


A Family's Honor

by Eucalie



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Azran Legacies Spoilers, Brother-Sister Relationships, Chasing thief, F/M, Fluff, Kisses, Might add more tags, Sly Cooper is a huge inspiration, and more characters, thief thief thief krkrkr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:09:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 43,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23965150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eucalie/pseuds/Eucalie
Summary: She's the only heireiss of the most popular thieving family alive today. A family so mysterious that they're known as "Fox" from the very beggining.But know, "Fox" has become "Vixen", and she asked for revenge.Her family's honor was at stake.Inspired by the Sly Cooper's series.
Relationships: Emmy Altava & OC, Emmy Altava/Hershel Layton
Comments: 13
Kudos: 10





	1. Escape

**Author's Note:**

> Yooo !  
> First of all, thank you for clicking on my fanfiction :D I hope you'll enjoy it !  
> English is not my native language so let me know if you spot some mistakes, I'll correct them right away !  
> Enjoy :D

_Run._  
Her whole body ached, she was out of breath and tears blurred her vision, but she kept on running. She triped over a rock but his grip tightened over her arm and he lifted her on her feet.  
_How could this have happened ?_ Her mind screamed. 

They stopped far from where they were, in the local port. She didn't know how long they've been running and still didn't know if it was enough.  
She turned to the man. He was sitting on the edge of the dock, staring at the horizon.  
"Where are we going ?" she asked. He took a deep breath and turn his head over her.  
"Somewhere safe."  
He stretched his hand over her. She took it and sat beside him as he pulled an arm over her small shoulders. They stayed silent for a while, before the girl spoke again.  
"What are we waiting for ?"  
"A friend. He'll come with a boat, so we can quit Denmark." He answered. He turn his left arm to look at his watch. "He'll be here soon."  
She nodded, and closed her eyes, sighing. He seemed to notice it.  
"It's going to be okay, my dear. It's going to be okay."

Soon after, the man's friend arrived with a rather small boat, large enough for two adults and a child.  
The little girl was sitting at the end of the boat, staring at the waves with swollen eyes as it sped accross the sea.  
The two men were silent, manoeuvring the ship as far away from the port as possible, at full speed.  
"So, Shawn," said the man's friend, "are you going to tell me what happened ? You were supposed to be alone this time." He glared at the girl. Shawn sighed.  
"Man, you can't even imagine. Everything's so fucked up." He put his hand over his eyes as his friend eyed him suspiciously. "I did business in here before visiting Silver."  
"Silver is here ?"  
Suddenly, his friend's eyes widened.  
"Wait, don't tell me she's..." Shawn nodded. "What the fuck is she doing here ?"  
"Listen, Duke, now isn't the time to talk about it. Just get us out of this place, please."  
Duke's grip on the motor's lever tightened as he frowned, eyeing at the little girl who fell asleep.  
"Something happened to Silver, right ?" he said after a moment.  
"... Yes."

....

When the girl opened her eyes, she heard voices she didn't recognise.  
_What is going on ?_  
It took her a moment before she remembered. She felt tears coming but didn't allow them to fall.  
Surely they arrived where Shawn wanted to go.  
She lift her head from the ship's floor where she fell asleep some time ago and took a look at the area.  
They were on an island. She could see some houses near the shore and some people running around. She could see what seemed to be a market with people shouting and talking. A smell of salt and iodine surrounded the area. If you look at it from far away, it seemed as a little fishing village.  
_Except it isn't._ She thought. She has been told by Shawn and others that their Shelter was so well hidden that nobody has found it so far. She didn't know when it was founded, but assumed it was one of the first Foxes who built it.  
Slowly she sat up and began looking for Shawn. She spotted him on the other side of the boat, busy carrying some boxes out of the ship.  
"Where are we ?" she asked when he returns. He turned his head towards her and smiled at her. He kneeled before her and cupped his cheek with his large hand.  
"This is somewhere safe, my dear. No one would search for you here."  
He lifted her and led her out of the boat. Her hand was so small is his. But she hoped it was another one's hand she was holding. It won't be anymore... 

Shawn guided her towards a little house further from the sea than the others, where an old lady was. She sat on a rocking chair, slowly carressing a cat asleep besides her. When she saw Shawn, she immediately stood up.  
"Oh dear boy, Shawn ! How are you ? I was so worried when we received the telegraph from Duke. Please, go inside."  
She opened the door to let Shawn and the little girl in.  
The inside of the house was quite cosy. There was a couch in front of a firepit, and a table with a empty vase on it. It was as if this house was stuck in a time, long ago. It suits the old lady indeed.  
She smiled fondly at the little girl when their eyes met.  
"You must be Silver's daughter, dear girl. I'm glad to finall meet you, even if I would have liked to do it under other circumstances ." She looked at Shawn. "Please, dear, tell me what happened."  
And so he did. He explained how he went to Denmark, how he visited Silver, and how bad things have been before they arrived here. The girl stayed silent.  
"I couldn't do anything, Mami. I just took her with me and ran away. I didn't know what to do, and now..." Shawn voice faded as his gaze wondered over the burned wood in the firepit.  
"You did well, Shawn. You saved her." Mami said with a gentle voice. "But you were lucky to arrive here without any complications."  
"I know. But Silver asked me to bring her here if anything bad happened to him."  
The old lady nodded, her eyes closed.  
"We have to take care of her, now, Mami," Shawn said.  
"Of course. We won't let anyone of us get hurt, would we ? So..."  
She gently put a hand over the little girl shoulders.  
"How old are you, my dear ?"  
"...I'm ten." she answered with such a fragile voice Mami flet her heart broke.  
"Your father was twelve when his own father bring him here."  
"He told me about this place. About you." the young girl replied. "And about this island. He said... He said he would take me here one day. He said it was a tradition."  
Mami's heart was definetely broken after hearing that. _She doesn't deserve what happened to her. Such a young girl, and yet..._  
"Well, you're here today, dear. This," She waved to her window, "is home. Silver's not here with us anymore, but I promise to you, you'll be happy here. We are going to take care of you. That's what we all do, since your ancestor created this place."  
The little girl released Shawn's hand and walked to the window. It show the other side of the island, far from the sea. There was a forest, and she spotted some habitations in it.  
"It sounds like you all work for us. Papa told me you weren't. He said you were friends."  
"Your father was a good man."  
"Hm."  
The girl's gaze went from Shawn to Mami.  
"... Papa never told me what name I should use with you." She said.  
Shawn shrugged. "You don't need to use the name you had in Denmark here. You can go with your own."  
Mami frowned. "Do you know your father's name, girl ?"  
"I do."  
"Surely, he told you how risky it was to use it."  
"He did." The girl posed a hand over her heart. "This name is a family secret, nobody except us know it. I won't spread it, if that's what you think."  
Mami raised an eyebrow at the girl's sentence. Shawn laughed.  
"You certainly are way more serious than he was, love !"  
The girl laughed for the first time since the escape. Then, her expression grew darker, and she stares at nothing with blank eyes.  
"I'll use my mother's name instead. No one knows her. It would be safer like this."  
"And what was her name ?" Mami asked.  
The girl's hand over her heart clenched into a fist as she pressed it against her chest. She took a deep breath before answering.  
"Altava. Her name was Altava."  
“Well then,” Mami said, “Welcome to Caimeen, Emmeline Altava.”


	2. Chapter II : Discovering Caimeen

The first thing Emmy discovered in Caimeen except the fishing village was the forest. She would said it occupied at least half of the island. Shawn lead her through it so she could meet the other “colleagues” of Shawn's.  
Emmy knew very well what his job was. He worked a lot with her father when he was still active : in fact, Shawn was the only one she saw working with him. But from what she heard, he was pretty good : not as stealthy as Silver was but definetely stronger than him. Usually, Shawn was the one knocking off the security guards while her father was “working his magic”, as he said. 

Emmy lifted her head to see the tall trees surrounding the little path they were following for the past ten minutes. The sunlight was creeping through the highest leaves, making quite a soothing atmosphere. It wasn't too hot though, and it felt weird for her not being cold after months in Denmark.  
When she looked at the surroundings of the path, she could see some bushes and large rocks and thought it will be a nice place for training. She resisted the urge to jump on the nearest branch and climb to the top of the trees, and kept on following Shawn. She took the time to study him. “Fox's Eye”, her father said.  
He was a tall brown haired man, with beautiful blue eyes. His arms were quite impressive and so was all of his body : she understood clearly why he was so strong with such muscles all over him. He could easily break her little hand if he squeezed it too hard. She wondered how could he be unnoticed during his missions.  
Now that she thought about it, Shawn and her father made quite a pair. A huge bear who kicks butts and breaks down security doors, and a sly fox, so silent and so agile he almost flew when he climbed on pipes and rooftops. She would've loved to see them in action. 

Shawn led her outside of the path after some walking and they wandered through a much more dense vegetation. Emmy didn't recognize anything in there, so she just followed Shawn, hoping she wouldn't drop his hand, because he took so much turns and climbed on so much rocks she was sure she couldn't go back in the village alone. 

“Do we really need to go on adventures just to meet your friends ?” she sighed after jumping over a large hole she almost fell into. 

“Well yes, you didn't think we would meet at the village, right ?” He responds, amused when he heard her catching his breath loudly. “It would've been too risky after all.”

“Nobody knows Caimeen, it wouldn't have been a problem...”

“You'll know by yourself that being careful is better than being killed or anything worse.”

“There's something worse than dying ?”

“You'll learn.”

After some time, they arrived in front of a huge tree. Emmy took the time to study it and was sure there was some light in the trunk and at the top. 

“Don't tell me you're hiding in there ? I thought the Shelter was hidden and well protected !” she exclaimed. 

“Oh, but it is, young lady. They just knew we were arriving so they turned on the lights. You'll see that this is the most secure place in all the island.” 

On that, Shawn lifted a trapdoor hidden under a root and led Emmy inside. 

The inside of the Shelter was as she imagined : simple and effective.  
There were multiple rooms, from under the tree to the top of the trunk. Shawn and Emmy took the stairs to the top while she took a look at her surroundings. Some doors were definitely chambers, since he heard some snoring from it. There was some couchs and empty cans on small tables.  
_The Shelter is used as dormitories...?_  
But the most beautiful place was the room at the top. A large table was at the back of the room in front of a window, where maps and pencils were scattered. Next to the door was some chairs and a cupboard locked with two locks. She assumed weapons or valuable items were in. She could also see a desk and another man scribbling notes on papers, next to the table.  
They were few people in the room Emmy didn't recognize. When she entered with Shawn, they all turned their heads to them. Shawn bowed his briefly before gently pushing Emmy inside. One of them sat on the table, greeted them.

“Welcome to Caimeen, girl. I hope you like the place.” 

Emmy didn't answer it and studied him. Around thirty, a nicely shaved beard, big brown eyes and a red bandana twisted on his right hand. He looked like a vilain from child's stories, and yet Emmy found something reassuring in him. 

“Come, girl, we won't hurt you. What's your name ?”

“Emmeline.”

“Such a pretty name.” 

He stood up from the tables and showed a chair to the girl. She sat on it. 

“I know it must be a lot for a little girl, leaving a country, arriving at a strange place and meeting weird guys.”

“I'm not a little girl.” 

He laughed. “Oh, I see. Sorry dear. I haven't introduce myself : I'm Connor. Silver and I went on a lot of break-ins before he retired.” He sighed. “I'm sorry for what happened in Denmark. Could you tell us what happened ?”

Emmy's eyes fell on the floor. 

“It's okay, girl,” Shawn said. “I will.”

He cleared his throat and took a seat next to her. 

“Silver sent me a message about two months ago. He said that he had found one of his most valuable treasure recently, and he wanted to show it to me.”

“What kind of treasure ?” 

“I don't know. He was very mysterious in his message...”

Connor put his right hand under his chin. “So he didn't show you ?”

“When I arrived in his house, he was so excited to see me he completely forgot about it. I must admit, I was too...”

Connor looked at Emmeline. “Did your father tell you what was his treasure, Em' ?”

Emmy's gaze met his brown eyes.

“He told me he found it on a recent dig site near our house. He didn't show me, but...” Her voice faded as she frowned.

“But ?”

“He said it was an... an Az.. Aian... Ugh, what was it again...?” she pouted.

“Azran ?” said the scribbling man.

“Yeah, that's it ! He said it was an Azran weapon.”

Connor's sighed as he ran his hand across his face. Emmy's father did tht when he was upset, too. She wondered why. 

“... What kind of weapon ?” he asked.

“Something light and tiny.” replied the girl. “A dagger, I think.”

“He was about to show me when we heard strange noises from the outside.” Shawn said. 

Connor sighed ans made his way to the window. Emmy wasn't sure if it was her father's disappearance or the dagger he found that made him upset. She supposed it was both. 

“Shawn, I need you to describe me precisely what happened after that.”

Emmy was rushing through the forest. She jumped from branch to branch, grasping some and swinging in the air before throwing herself to another. Her breath was steady, her eyes frowned as she took a second to turn her hand and look behind her. Nobody was following her. She smiled.  
She let herself fall from the tree and landed on one of the rope which was tied between several trunks. She glided on it, avoiding some leaves and jumping over the few branches where the rope was attached, making it stretched for almost twenty meters. 

“Ah ! You really thought you lost me, Em' ?” shouted someone beneath her. While still gliding, she lowered her head to see a boy running on the forest floor. 

“What are you doing down here ?” she yelled.

“I can't glide like you !” 

Emmy giggled and gripped the nearest branch to throw herself higher. She could barely hear the boy's cries where she was now. She had a sly smirk over her face.  
Soon after, she was outside of the forest, on a platform over the small mountain of the island. Then, she lept on a small pillar which was holding another rope, and stood by the tip of her toes in a squatting position. She stood still, her hair floating behing her as the wind blew softly.  
In this platform she could see all of the island. The fishing village was across the mountain, still busy with trading and new arriving ships. She wondered how Caimeen had stayed hidden for all this time : for what she recalled, the Shelter was built by an Ancien greek ancestor.  
She took a deep breath of the fresh air. It's been five mounths since she arrived here. Those five mounths have been quite busy for her, discovering the island, meeting the inhabitants... It was a small place but there were so many people in there.  
Sometimes she missed her previous life. She missed her dad. Thinking about him was still hurting, especially since his burial. She obviously wasn't allowed to go, and spent the entire day crying in Mami's arms. She couldn't even go to visit him, since the ones who got him were certainly searching for her. Shawn was doing anything to make her happy and she was grateful for that, but she still feel like a foreigner here. Ironically, since Caimeen existed for her family...  
But she was glad Shawn took her in his house. Otherwise she would have been in the Shelter, and even though she liked the place, those dormitories looked too much like a prison in her opinion. She had a busy schedule everyday, between meetings, trainings and such, since Shawn thought it was a good idea for her to learn martial arts.  
She stirred her shoulders. Yesterday's lesson still gave her some muscle soreness. She cracked her neck and glared at the bottom of the mountain. The boy wasn't here. She sighed, smiling.  
Elijah was Connor's son. She met him several days after she arrived and they got along instantly. It was good for the both of them to know each other, since there weren't many children in Caimeen. But Elijah was too slow for her taste, and she began feeling bored, alone on the platform. Maybe she could teach him how some of the Fox's technics.  
She heard some ruffling below her and lowered her head. Then, she saw Elijah, struggling in the climbing of the mountain. She heard him curse and giggled.

“It's about time, boy.” she said when he finally got up in the platform, panting and sweating. 

“Aaah...Aaah... Don't make fun of me !” he pouted, and Emmy laughed. She was still on the pillar, in the same position. “How long have you been waiting ?”

“I don't know. Fifteen minutes, maybe. Almost got bored.”

Elijah sat at the end of the wooden installation, next to her. 

“You could teach me how to glide. I would be quicker.”

“My technics isn't for the plebeians, commoner. You have to be worthy of it.” She answered, sticking out her tongue over him. Elijah growled and tried to grab her arm but she lept for the pillar and landed on a rock above the platform without a sound, smiling. “Aaw, too bad.”

“Raaaaah, you're so mean to me, Em' !” He said, trying to sound annoyed but smiling anyway.

“Elijah ! Emmeline ! Go back here !” The strong voice of Shawn's startled them. They hurried to go down and met him at the bottom of the mountain. “Connor is searching for you, you should go to the Shelter right now before he throws you off the Reunion Room.”

“Hm, won't be a huge issue. Well, Eli, try to catch me !” Emmy said, already rushing through the forest. 

“Hey, not fair ! You got a head start !”

Shawn laughed while Emmy lept on a tree under Elijah whinings.

When they arrived at the Reunion Room, Connor was sitting in front of the desk, his eyebrows frowned, scribbling hazardly. He lifted his head to see Emmy standing in front of him with Elijah, who was breathing hardly. 

“What did you two do before going in ?”He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Training your little one.” Emmy answered, avoiding Elijah's elbow kicks. 

“Well, well, calm down you two. I haven't asked you to come to see that.” Connor smiled, then cleared his throat. “It's almost the end of August. You'll soon return to school, remember ?”

Elijah smile faded at the instant “Already ?!”

“Yep. There's no school here, so the both of you will go with me in England. We will stay at London for the time being.”

Elijah grumbled. “It's so far away from Caimeen !”

“Does that mean we're leaving Caimeen for good ?” Emmy asked. She didn't really like the idea of getting out of the island. She haven't gone anywhere but here since her father's death.

“We're not. I have business in England, and you need a school, so you're coming with me. Kill two birds in one stone.” Connor handed Emmy a paper she took. She began reading it. “Since I couldn't enrol you a school without any tutors, Richy created fake adoption papers. You'll be my foster daughter from now on.”

“Why not Shawn ?”

“He is wanted by Interpol and obviously can't adopt you. We want to be discreet, right ?”

Emmy nodded. “So, it means Elijah and I are siblings ?”

“Under the law, yes. I thought you wouldn't mind since you got along pretty much.”

Elijah placed an arm around Emmy's shoulders with a big smile on his face “Ha ! I'm family now ! Gives you a reason to teach me how to glide now, eh ?”

“I already told you that you have to be worthy of it, silly !”

“I will ! And one day I'll be a better thief than you ! Just wait for it !”

Emmy smiled and shrugged. “If you say so.”

Even if she was smiling, Emmy was feeling really nervous right now. It would be the first time she leaves the island after all. She just hoped everything was going to be fine outside...


	3. Chapter III : London

Connor, Emmy and Elijah arrived in London a few days after their discussion. It was Emmy's first time in London, and she was excited to discover it. It would be so delightful to run on those numerous rooftops !  
Her father has told her about this city, since he did quite a lot of robberies in the area. In fact, he went in so many places she can't even remember everything : sometimes, she followed him but she usually stayed at home, first in Japan with her mother's parents, and then Silver began to bring her with him. They were not staying in the same place for very long, though. She was looking forward living in London, even though she was still a little bit afraid that her father's killers would find her.  
Connor said she was safe here, mostly because nobody on Earth knows Silver's real name, but she was still suspicious.  
Elijah and Emmy's first day in school went well. Thanks to Connor, they were in the same class, and their classmates looked friendly, as were their teacher, but it was hard for Emmy to stay still for hours. Fortunately Elijah were with her to help her not falling asleep in the middle of the day.

A few weeks slipped by. School was great, Connor was busy with his “business” but was still trying to spend time with the two children.  
Every night, Emmy took the opportunity to jump out of their cosy appartment to visit London. Sometimes Elijah went with her, and they jumped from rooftops to rooftops together, giggling and admiring the view. When they were too tired to continue, they usually sat on the top of their buildings and talked for hours before Connor dragged them in.  
Emmy also... practise in the streets when she could. Her father told her that “Foxes musn't steal from innocent people”, so she mostly studied the streets to spot a mere thief, stealing from an old lady's bag, and she followed him and took his treasure instead, before returning the object to its real owner. Sometimes, she was rewarded with candies she shared with Elijah, but she made sure to never give them her name.  
One day, Connor returned from work with a little package. He put in on the table.

“Em', Eli, come.” He said, smiling. Emmy and Elijah sat on the couch before he spoke again. “We just received a package from Caimeen. There's a few things for you both.” 

He grabbed a knife and began cutting the box. The two children were impatient to see what was inside, but Connor made them stay sat, since Emmy was trying to jump on the table to inspect the package.  
Inside were some toys that Shawn and Mami offered them. Elijah was overjoyed when he saw a teddybear with a mask on his face. He jumped from the couch and began playing with them when Connor put his hand on Emmy's shoulder. She looked at him.

“Listen, dear. Shawn and a few men went to your house in Denmark a few days ago to search for clues about what happened.”

“Did they find anything ?” she asked.

“According to Shawn, the house stayed as it was during the incident. They can't find anything, but they took some things for you.”

He handed her a little box. Elijah put his hand on the couch behind Emmy.

“Open it !”

Emmy carefully did as she was told.  
The first thing she saw was a little card. She took it and examined it. It was one of the cards her father left on his break-ins, to sign his “art”, as he said. It had the form of a stylized fox head, shaped in a triangle, with dark eyes. The nose was an inversed brown triangle. The bottom part of the card was in a light beige color and the upper part was orange.  
She put in beside her and took the other item in the box. Her father's mask. It was a black cloth mask he tied aroung his head so that it covered his eyes. 

“We thought you would like to get that.” Connor said. 

“I... Thank you.”

Emmy closed her eyes and put the mask close to her heart. She promised herself she won't cry until they found her father's murderers. “A Fox keeps his head high”, as he said.  
She would make sure to follow that rule. 

Weeks went by, then months.  
Emmy loved her London life. She started teaching Elijah her technics several weeks ago, and he was getting better day after day. She was still practising in the streets at night, but less frequently, since Connor was afraid she could be catched by the police or worse, her father's killers.  
A few days after Emmy's eleventh birthday, she went home with Elijah after their school day to find Connor with someone. The two kids eyed each other, frowning, as he usually doesn't let anyone in. They came on the living room and Emmy studied the man sat on a chair near the table.  
But the way he looked, he was around thirty. He has light brown hair, brown eyes, and the beginning of an unshaved beard. He wore a red shirt and blue pants, with a blue coat he put on the chair behind him. She didn't like that man. 

Connor smiled at the children. “I hope you had a nice day.”

“Quite good.” she answered, still staring at their guest. “Would you mind doing the introductions ? I don't recall being informed by your... friend's presence here today.”

The man smiled at her. She could feel his eyes piercing her. “Ho ho, she certainly has a good character as you said, Connor.”

Emmy frowned and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Elijah went to his father's side as she stayed where she was, in front of the man but not too close. She didn't trust this guy. 

“Em', calm down, please.” Connor said. “He's a friend of mine.”

“A business friend ?”

“Quite.”

The man cleared his throat. “My name is Leon Bronev. Nice to meet you, Emmeline.”

Leon Bronev... She haven't heard that name before. Connor said it was a friend, though. 

“Your father was a great friend. I'm sorry for what happened to him.”

“He never talked about you.”

“Did he really tell you everything, dear girl ?”

Emmy's eyebrows raised at this sentence. _Who does he think he is ?_

“He told me enough so that I know his close relatives. If I haven't heard about you, why would I trust you ?”

“Em', please.” Connor said. She quickly glared at him : he looked upset. She didn't care. How on earth did he know her father ? However, Emmy stayed silent. 

Bronev laughed. “You're suspicious. I can understand.” Emmy slightly lifted her head, frowning. “Surely, you're wondering how your father and I met.”

“Tell me.” Emmy said, crossing her arms on her chest. Leon took a sip of the cup beside him before speaking.

“We met on a dug site. I thought he was a colleague before some ancient artifacts disappeared. I figured out he stole them.”

“How ?”

“I saw him. But I didn't say anything to our superiors.”

“Why ?”

“Because he asked me.”

“He simply asked ?”

“Yes.”

Emmy was staring intensely at Leon. _His story doesn't make any sense_ , she thought. 

“He's right, Em'.” Connor said, almost as if he read her mind. “It was one of the first thefts your father did alone, and he was quite frightened to be caught. I never stopped joking about it since.”

Emmy lowered her head, deep in thought. She was in front of the only man she know that caught her father, Fox, the best thief of this generation. Then, she noticed something.  
Leon haven't used her father's name. She didn't know if it was because he didn't know it, or else, though.  
She may have to figure it out herself. 

Bronev began to visit them often. Emmy was still suspicious first, but Connor assured her he was someone she could trust, so she tried. But he also said he doesn't know how her father died, which intrigued her, but she said nothing. Connor must have his reasons. He simply said that Leon believed Silver was killed by another thief during a heist.  
The more time she spent with Bronev, the more she learnt about him. He talked about his wife, Rachel, sadly too sick to meet them in London. He talked about the dig sites he went in, but never about what he was doing now. Since she was used to thiefs and whatnot hiding their lives in order to protect themselves, she didn't asked any further. But she was getting curious.  
One day, Connor and Emmy were in the living room, Elijah busy in the bathroom. The brown haired man was sitting on a chair, reading through some papers, and Emmy sat on the couch, fidgeting with her father's card, deep in thought.

“Hey, Connor.”

“Hm ?”

“Why did you introduce Bronev to us ?”

Connor head shifted to her, his eyebrows frowned. “Why do you ask ?”

“Because he came out of nowhere. Seems fishy to me.”

Connor put his pen on the table, sighing softly. He bit his lower lip, as he did when he was thinking, Emmy noticed. 

“... Do you remember his job ?”

“He's an archeologist. Why ?” Emmy answered. Connor stoo up and walked towards the girl before sitting next to her. 

“That's right. I haven't seen him for a while, but I thought it would be good to see him again.”

“Why ?”

“Because he works on the Azran civilization.”

Emmy felt her heart stopped. “What ? But, the dagger my father found... "

“...Was Azran made, I know. That's why I contacted him.”

“I thought he doesn't know how Papa died ?”

“He doesn't. I told him I wanted to see him after Silver's death, to inform him.”

Emmy's mind was running. “ Surely, you don't believe he was one of...”

“No, of course not. But he might know who they were. In fact...” Connor sighed again as he ran his hand across his face. “... He's working with Targent, a military organization interested in the Azran. Not because he wants to, however.” He turned his head towards Emmy. “Tell me, girl, do you know how the ones that killed Silver are called ?”

“No. You kicked me out of the Reunion Room when Shawn explained what happened to him.”

“Ha, I did. Well, they are known as _The Vipers_. It's a group of thieves famous for their interest for artifacts or anything related to history. Nobody knows how many they are or who they are, and they are obviously wanted by Interpol. We assume that they were searching for the dagger Silver found.”

At last, Emmy had a name. She could finally know who to hate and who to track down for the rest of her life. She stayed silent and Connor continued. 

“Since they showed interest for the Azran, I thought that maybe contacting Bronev would be a good first lead for our investigations. Maybe Targent had been in contact with them before-”

“Or maybe they are part of Targent.” Emmy finished. She tightened her grip on her Fox card. 

Connor put his right arm around Emmy's tiny figure to embrace her. 

“We'll find them, baby, don't worry. We'll find them.”

She nodded.

\------------------------------------------------------

**Four years later**

Emmy was walking in London at night, her steps echoing on the empty streets. Her hands were on the pockets in her dark coat, and her head lowered, but her stare steady, right in front of her.  
She arrived in a dead end where a man was waiting. She faced his back as he stopped. Silence surrounded the area until the man spoke.

“Are you sure about this, Emmeline ?”

“I am.”

The man turned around. His eyes pierced her own but she kept a stern face. 

“Once you go with me, you won't be able to change your mind.”

“I know. Show me the way, Uncle.”

Leon reached out his hand towards her. Emmy grabbed it, and together they left the dead end.


	4. Chapter IV : Vixen

“Targent isn't a place for kids, Emmeline. I convinced the boss to recruit you but you'll have to stay clean and behave, it that clear ?”  
“Yes.”  
“Good.”  
“But I told you. I want to be allowed to do anything I want outside of Targent. I'll do whatever your boss wants but I'm still free.”  
“...”  
“If not, I go back to London right away.”  
“I told him, don't worry. Just... Stay safe, my dear.”  
“I will.”

.  
.  
.

“I'm telling you, this child is confusing me with someone else !” Emmy cried.  
 _How on EARTH could I be arrested for a theft I didn't do ?! Elijah would soooo laugh at me when I'll come home..._  
“Oh, that old one ! Is that right, son, you just confused ?” The Inspector in front of her snarled, eyeing the boy who was accusing her of stealing his wallet. She felt anger rush through her veins and her hands crisped into fists. But before she could say anything, she heard another voice.  
 _Urgh, as if it wasn't enough..._  
“Hm... Might I be of help ?”  
 _What ?_  
She turned her head towards the man who spoke. 

And this man cleared her name so easily. Emmy quickly got her bag she had thrown under the seats before rushing to the exit, hoping to see her savior. Here he was, with this little brat, so gently scolding him. _I should have kick his little ass the second I saw him,_ she thought while glaring at the boy.   
“Hey, wait !”   
She went down the stairs and stopped in front of the man.   
“Thank you so much !” Emmy said, smiling at him. He gently tipped his hat in response.  
“No need to thank me, miss. Helping a young lady like you is the duty of every gentlemen.”  
Emmy's eyes got wide. _A lady ?_  
“Have a lovely day.” the man replied before walking away. She stood there, without moving, slowly registering what he just said.  
“He called me a... lady...?”  
She quickly turned around to call him, but he was already gone.

.  
.  
.

Emmy was furious. She, Vixen, a thief, got arrested for something she didn't do. If she see this little brat on the streets she will clearly have a word with him...   
“I can't believe you, Em'. You didn't even start being Vixen and you already got problems with the police !” Elijah laughed. Emmy shot him he deadliest glare she could.   
“If you don't shup this mouth quickly I'll make you wish you were never born !”  
“Bwahahaha ! But hey, just imagine this police man : he had in front of him the future most wanted thief and he didn't even know ! Isn't it fun ?”  
“Oh, yes, of course, it's so fun to be ARRESTED !”  
Elijah laughed even harder and Emmy sighed. Even if she was angry, her mind couldn't focus on anything but this gentleman. Hershel Layton, Grosky said. She frowned at the memory.   
_I'll ask about him to Uncle Leon later. I bet I'll meet him again..._  
Connor cleared his throat, making Emmy and Elijah look at him.   
“Emmy, I have something for you.”  
She frowned at him. “What is it ?” she asked when Connor handed her a box.  
“Open it and you'll see.”  
Emmy began cutting the upper part of the package. “Mami finished it last week. I thought it would be a good idea to show you her work. I must say, she did a wonderful job with this one.”  
Emmy pulled out an orange sweat shirt from the box. It was the same as her father had, with the tight sleeves and the little fox ears sewn of the hood. Other clothes were in the box, including a black pants and dark gloves on which was embroidered the famous stylized Fox symbol in white, on the back of the hands. The same symbol was on the back of the hoodie, in the middle.   
“You now have you own Fox clothes. No need to thank me, miss.” Connor smiled as he saw pure joy on Emmy's face. She quickly grabbed everything and rushed to the bathroom to get dressed. She returned a while later, still smiling.   
“I LOVE it.”  
She searched again in the bow, knowing there were other things in for her. She pulled out a nice pair of dark boots she quickly put on too, before she took the two others clothes left. A scarf and a mask.   
The scarf was orange with the ends in bright white, and pretty long. She could wear it to hide the lowest part of her face just by winding it up around her shoulders, it will still float on her back as a fox tail. The last part of the costume she put on was her mask. It wasn't like her father's : it has the shape of the fox symbol, orange on the upper part, white on the lowest. It just had two holes for her eyes, but it was a perfect copy of her family's symbol. When she wore it, her eyes weren't visible anymore.   
Connor smiled when Emmy wore the entire costume.   
_You would have been proud of your daughter, Silver. She wears your colors perfectly._

.  
.  
.

“Hershel Layton. He's an archeology professor in Gressenheller.”  
“Another archeologist. Great.”   
“He hasn't shown any interest on the Azran yet. But Targent will surely contact him one day about it. Why do you ask ?”  
“Because Bronev didn't tell me anything about him. He just.. changed the subject.”  
“It's because Layton is his son. Aren't you aware ?”  
“What ?”  
“Targent kidnapped him and his wife, leaving his children behind. That's how he joined.”  
“Oh. I thought they were dead.”  
“His wife isn't feeling well but his sons are. Well, one is. We don't know about the other.”  
“Thanks, Swift. You are the only one kind enough to answer my questions...”  
“You're welcome, Altava. Now get out of here before someone sees you.”

.  
.  
.

“So, Emmy, what did you find ?” Connor asked.  
Emmy crossed her arms on her chest and frowned. She sat on the table of the Reunion Room.  
“There's a lot of things, actually. You won't like all of them.”  
“Then talk.”  
“Let's start with the good news. I've been with Targent for six years now and I haven't found anything about the Vipers there. Even after Bronev's promotion as the leader.”  
“Which means...?” Elijah said.  
“Which means they surely aren't part of it. I thought you would like it, Connor. It means I didn't risk anything by joining them.”  
“But that also means they are likely to be anywhere in the world. That won't make our plan easier.”  
“Actually, there's another thing you should know. Bronev told me he'll need me soon for an important mission. I guess I won't be allowed to go in Caimeen anymore when I'll be called in.”  
“What ?!” Elijah jumped from his seat, surprised.   
“I'm... I'm sorry. But I don't want to take any risks. If the Vipers aren't working for Targent, it means they may watch its members. I don't want them to discover Caimeen or any of you. It's too dangerous.”  
“But what if they find you ?! Have you lost your mind ? They'll kill you!”  
“Calm down, son. Let her finish.”  
“But, dad-”  
“...” Emmy took a deep breath. “If Bronev sends me on this mission, that means the Azran Legacy will soon be discovered.”  
“Are you sure about this, Emmy ?” Connor asked. “We're not sure how the Vipers would react.”  
“They'll want to steal it, of course. Didn't you tell me they were after Azan relics ?”  
“But it's still dangerous.”  
“I know. That's why I want to be alone for the moment. I don't want to put any of you in danger.”  
Elijah gritted his teeth. “Have you just thought about us ? About me ? Don't you think we'll be worried, knowing you'll be alone against them ? We can't leave you alone, Em, I can't-”  
Emmy slowly stood up and walked towards him. Before he could finish, she placed both her hands on his cheeks,.  
“I know the risks, Eli'. But please, I need you to have faith in me. Here, look at me.” She said, making his teary eyes stare at hers. “I'll be alright, I promise. They don't know my name, they don't know who my father was, they won't do anything against me. I just have to find these Azran treasure and we'll be together again. It won't take long, I promise.”  
Elijah stayed silent for a moment, and they both looked at each other without saying a word, trying to read the other's mind. He then put his hand behind her back and pulled her in a tight embrace, letting his other hand wander on her brown curls.  
“I don't want you to die, Emmy. I love you too much to loose you.”  
Emmy's eyes began to water. She burried her face against his shoulders and gripped at his shirt with all the strength she had.  
“I love you too. I promise I'll come back, Elijah.”

.  
.  
.

“What ?!”  
“You heard me. You'll get a job as Layton's assistant and you're going to spy on him for us.”  
“But-”  
“No buts, Emmeline.”  
“Of course there's a but ! It's not because you became Targent's leader that our deal is cancelled. I wanted to be free, remember ?”  
“But you will. You'll do anything you please as his assistant, I just ask for reports.”  
Emmy crossed her arms, deep in thought.   
“Think of it as a gift. You didn't like the missions I sent you in before, right ? Now you'll be as free as a bird, doing whatever you want. You just have to sent me news about Layton's discoveries.”  
“I don't think 'free as a bird' is really appropriate coming from you.”  
“Don't play with words, Emmeline. You understood me.”  
“I did.” She stood up. “Do you have anymore things to tell me before I leave ?”  
Bronev searched in his desk's drawers before handing her a set of keys. “I got you an apartment in London. You might need it.”  
“You're so kind.”  
She took the keys. “Thanks.”  
“You're welcome. You're dismissed now.”  
Emmy began walking back to the door. “Emmeline.” She turned around to see Bronev looking at her.  
“What ?”  
“...Be safe, my girl.”  
“As always.”

.  
.  
.

“I'm Emmy Altava, your niew assistant !”  
“I'm sorry, you're my...?”  
“Your assistant ! You do know what an assistant is, don't you ? Heehee !”  
 _Did he recognize me ?_  
“I'm sorry, miss Altava, but-”  
“Please, professor, Emmy ! And stop apologizing so much !”  
 _I don't think he did._  
“Now I'll be your back up on all your projects ! I can't wait to get started !”  
 _I can't wait to end it all._

.  
.  
.

When Emmy saw Luke reaction's towards his father, she felt her heart accelerate.  
When she saw him staring at him, almost growling, her hand began to shake. She hid it in her pocket.  
When she heard him talking so badly about him, he wanted to punch him.  
Everything about his relation with his father angered her. She wondered if she was just jealous. She thought about how badly she wanted her father to be here with her.  
After the discovery of the Golden Garden, Emmy went to Luke and put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched at the contact and looked at her.  
“You should talk to your father, kid.” she said, looking at the garden with sad eyes. “You may regret it otherwise.”  
“I... I will, miss Emmy.”  
She smiled before gently slapping his back.  
“If you call me 'miss' again I'll make you regret it, sprout.”

.  
.  
.

As time passed, Emmy started to care a little less about the Azran, and a lot more for the professor and Luke.   
She loved their adventures in Misthallery and Monte d'Or. It was nice to have such a calm life, so different from hers when she was with Targent. The persons they met were so kind, so different from the thieves and whatnot that lived in Caimeen. Not that she disliked them, of course. But she always wondered how it felt like to be a normal girl.   
But this joy wasn't eternal. Everytime she had to write her reports to Uncle Leon, guilt plagued her heart. She usually did it quickly before coming home, alone with her dark ideas. She knew she will have to betray them one day, and just the thought of it made her feel sick.   
She often sat on her bed with her head on her hands after coming home, trying to calm her breath.   
She had grown too much attached to them. She couldn't help it, though. Everything about the professor and Luke were good to her, even Luke's silliest whinings and Layton's daily puzzles. But she know she musn't care for them so much. She musn't care about anyone...  
Her hands would move slowly to the edges of her head, through her wavy hair she would grip harder than expected, with teary eyes. She would think about her father and the Vipers, about Caimeen and everyone in there, about Elijah. Oh god, she missed him so much.   
She often let herself fall on her bed, letting tears flowing on her cheeks. She would often take the only thing she brought with her when she left Caimeen and held it close to her heart while crying on her dark bedroom, with only streetlights as company.   
And when tears finally stopped running, she would dry them with her sleeve before washing her face with cold water, still gripping her father's mask. Then, she would look at herself in the mirror, seeing her dark eyes, red from crying, and she would promise herself she won't let her emotions control her.  
She was not allowed to fail.   
She will find the Azran legacy, steal it right in front of the Vipers' eyes, and she will track them into hell one by one.  
No one can't mess with the Vixen. 

.  
.  
.

“Stop it, Emmy, this isn't funny !”  
“No it's not. I'm deadly serious.”  
 _I'm sorry, Luke._  
“Emmy.... Do you mean to say-”  
“That's right, I work for Targent.”  
_I won't give up now._  
“All the time I was working as your assistant, I was watching you.”   
_Even though I liked every moment of it._  
“Think about it, Emmy ! You can't do this, please, don't !”  
 _I can't.... Why is my hand trembling ?  
Why do I hesitate now ? _  
“Everything I've done have been for ...!”  
 _I have to do it. I want him to be proud.  
Don't stop, Vixen. You're too close to your goal. _  
“Professor, hand over the keystone. I won't ask again.”

.  
.  
.

When Grosky arrested Bronev, she felt something tight around her heart slowly hurting her. She felt as if she used him to achieve her goals, and this felt horrible. But Targent was after the Azran legacy for longer than her and they knew these civilization much more than her. They must have seen this coming. And yet she can't help but feel sad for him.   
When she looked at him one last time, Bronev was following the Inspector silently. She made one step towards him, making him stop. He turn his head to Grosky, who looked at Emmy while frowning.  
She ignored the inspector and focused on her uncle. They stared at each other, trying to read the other's mind without success.   
“... I'm sorry.” was all she said. Bronev's eyes softened, and a sad smile passed his lips before quickly going away.  
“Don't be, girl.”   
Grosky then continued walking, dragging Bronev with him. Bronev lifted his head after a few seconds, slightly turning it towards Emmy.   
“Go on, my dear. Don't give up.”  
Emmy's eyes widened at his words. Connor said he wasn't aware of her father's real death, but at this very moment, she wondered if he knew about everything. 

.  
.  
.

Two days after the Azran legacy's fall, policemen were guarding the lake. During the police investigation, no one was allowed to leave Froenborg, and the zone was highly protected.   
This night, two men with flashlights were on a boat, searching in the water for another Azran relic. There were others boats doing the same thing in different areas, while some policemen were investigating the shores.   
The silent night was suddenly disturbed by one of the policemen's voice.   
He stood near the tent where they stocked the Azran relics. Since the beginning of their search, they found the keystone, the Azran dagger and others things on the ruins. But to their surprise, when they looked at the boxes where they stored it, they saw nothing. They sounded the alarm immediately.  
The only thing left was a business card in the shape on a fox's head, one eye closed, with its tongue sticking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEHEHEHEHE  
> I LIKE HOW IT TURNS OUT :D


	5. Chapter V : After

It has been two days since the theft, and Scotland Yard troups were in ebullition.

They blocked every exit of Froenborg, searched in every house, every place, asked everyone that were still in the city but found nothing. The professor, who wanted to go back to London, was asked to stay in during the police investigation by Inspector Grosky himself, and proposed his help, which was gladly accepted. But unfortunately, they found nothing.

Professor Layton was in his hotel room with Luke, trying to find the way the thief took to steal the artifacts. Their only clues were policemen's statements and this strange mask they found it the box. Of course, nobody saw anything, even the ones that stayed near the tent, which Layton found disturbing.

He looked at his apprentice, still deep in thought. With everything that happened in the last few days, he wanted to make sure the little boy was alright, and that's why he wanted to go back to London as soon as possible. Even if Luke smiled most of the time, he still could see that he wasn't feeling well at all. He often heard him sobbing in the middle of the night, and it was heartbreaking for him. The young boy needed to be with his parents to rest a little bit.

But Layton was mostly worried about his assistant. He and Luke hadn't seen her since Bronev's arrest : she stayed in the hotel room Scotland Yard offered them during their stay, and hers was constantly guarded by Grosky's men.

The professor sighed. After what happened in the sanctuary, it was understandable. The inspector was really upset about her betrayal : they always had been so close, he must felt as betrayed as he and Luke were. Even if the professor understood why she act the way she did in the sanctuary and already had forgiven her, he was sure Grosky's wasn't feeling the same.

He sighed another time. He would ask him to meet her when he'll see him.

Emmy grabbed the sink in her bathroom with both hands, pearls of water dripping from her face. She took a deep breath, eyes closed, before she took the nearby towel and dried her face. She opened her eyes, staring at her reflexion in the mirror.

She did it. Her first real heist. She should feel overjoyed, but instead she felt... empty. In fact, she didn't know how she was feeling at the moment. But she was still proud of her for trepassing all of this policemen this night, even the one guarding her door like a dog since she entered the room.

She cracked her neck while quitting the bathroom. When Bronev was arrested, Grosky ordored his men to interrogate her and... “asked” her to stay in Froenborg for a while. She was sure it was because he wanted to scold her. She thought he would arrest her, but with the theft that happened, he seemed to have forgotten about her. Great.

Of course she had been interrogated about it, but they couldn't link her to the affair. The guard stated she didn't left her room, and it was impossible for her to quit it, since the room was at the fourth floor of the hotel...

She smiled. How foolish of them. She didn't even struggle to climb the hotel walls after silently slipping through her window, nor when she stole the artifacts from the tent or when she handed it to her accomplices. In fact, it had been too calm for her tastes. She hoped Grosky's men would be more capable.

But her smile quickly faded when she let herself fall on her bed. Her plan just began, the plan she was perfectionning for so long. Soon enough everything will be ready for action. She just have to wait until the signal.

Meanwhile, she will have to face the professor and Luke. Thinking about them made her heart feel heavy. She spent the last three years with them, she got close to them, and she betrayed them, even if they didn't do anything wrong.

Emmy put her hand on her face, sighing. She lost her only friends outside of Caimeen. She never felt this lonely since she left Connor and Elijah.

And she will have to live with this feeling.

After nearly an hour laying in her bed, she decided she needed some fresh air. She gently knocked at the door and opened it, facing the policeman.

“What is it ?” he asked.

“I want to go outside. Am I allowed to, or do I have to stay between these four walls ?” she answered sternly. The guard was taken off guard, since it was the first time he saw her in four days.

“Of... of course. There are others men all around, so don't try to escape, because you can't.”

She shrugged and began walking, smiling. “Of course. How could I ?”

Emmy come down the stairs slowly. She was in the hotel's hall, where its small restaurant was and a few tables. After the golem's ressurection, some parts of the city had been riped off but the hotel didn't take any damage. However all of the rooms were occupied since some people lost their homes in the process. She tried to ignore the pang of guilt that rushed through her heart and walked towards the restaurant, propping herself on the bar, and asked the waited for some fresh juice.

Then she saw them. The professor and Luke, sat at a table with papers and photos on it. She froze, staring at them at the distance. Before she could go back, Luke spotted her.

“Ah- Emmy...!”

She sighed. Of course she would see them. How could she hope otherwise ? She quickly got up and glared at him, frowning. She really didn't want to see them at all right now.

The professor lifted his head from the documents when he heard his apprentice. His eyes caught hers, and he froze. He hadn't seen her in four days, and she didn't look well at all. Her usually bright smile wasn't here anymore and her eyes were blank. She almost seemed emotionless. He regretted not visiting her soon.

When he stood up, she quickly return to the bar, turning her back towards them, and closed her eyes. She hoped they understood the message, but she felt him near her within seconds.

“Emmy...” the professor whispered. She said nothing in response, and took a sip of the juice she ordered. She opened her eyes as she put the glass on the bar, looking at the bottles in front of her.

Layton stood next to her, not knowing what to say. Luke quickly joined him.

“... It's been a while since we saw you.” the young boy said, stretching out his hand to her. She quickly backed off, startling the boy, who withdrew his arm after a while. They stayed silent for some time, Emmy still staring at nothing, and Layton searching for the right words.

“Emmy, I understand if you want to be alone right now, but-”

“Then leave me alone.” she spurted out, not even looking at him. Layton and Luke, not expecting her to be so cold with them, jumped a little at her sentence.

Emmy quickly finished her glass and thanked the waiter. Then she stood up, now facing the professor. She glared at him. He lifted his hand to brush the tip of his hat, not at ease with his assistant's attitude.

“Emmy, please, we're just worried about you. We-”

“I'm perfectly fine.”

They looked at each other without saying anything.

“You don't look so well...” Luke said softly, gripping at his bag's handle.

Emmy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. They were talking to her as if she might shatter at any moment. She hated it when people take her for a fragile girl. She hated it most when it comes from them.

When the professor noticed she wasn't going to answer, he spoke again. “You know you can trust us, Emmy. We're here for you, no matter what happened.”

She laughed. “If you think I was going to thank you for your fake careness then you're truly mistaken, professor. Now please, leave me alone.”

She began walking back when she felt something grab her wrist. She turned her head to see the professor, looking directly at her, frowning.

“I'm not lying. We still care for you.”

She stood in front of him, without moving. She bit her lower lip until she felt blood on her mouth, trying not to say something too harsh. She didn't want to be mad at them, but she just wasn't in the mood to talk right now. She got her hand free from the professor grip when she heard the hotel doors. The three of them turned around to face who entenred the hotel hall.

Grosky glanced at Emmy but said nothing. He walked towards the professor. “Layton, did you find something ?”

“Ah... I'm afraid not. We don't have any clues in this affair, so it would be difficult to find any lead.”

The inspector nodded. “Anyway, I want you to assist at today's reunion. Maybe we would find something if we brainstrom it a little bit.”

“The three of us ?” Luke asked. Grosky glared at Emmy. She shrugged.

“You don't need to say anything. I already know the answer.”

“In fact, I wanted to inform you that I want to talk to you after our reunion. Remain in the area until I come back.”

“No need to. I'll be waiting at your office.”

Emmy put her hands on her pockets and left the hotel under the stern eyes of the Inspector.

“Inspector...” Layton started, noticing Grosky's face. “She isn't feeling well right now. Maybe we should-”

“Stop trying to find excuses for any lady you meet, Layton. Even if it's her. Now please, come with me.”

Layton once again brushed the tip of his hat, looking at Luke who was still not at ease after this conversation. He sighed inwardly. This was not going to be easy...

The professor and Luke followed the Inspector until they arrived in front of the little Froenborg's police station. It had been partially destroyed by the golems but was still usable.

They entered the reunion room where all of Grosky's men were chatting about the case. When they saw them, they stopped and welcomed them. Carmichael quickly bow his head towards them.

“I see you found them, Inspector. Now, let's start, we lost enough time as it is.”

Layton took a chair nearby and sat on it with Luke following him. When everyone in were silent, Grosky cleared his throat and began speaking.

“So. We're all here to try to understand what happened two days ago, the night when Azran artifacts had been stolen. For now, the searching in the lake and nearby were useless since we didn't found anything, except for this.” He took the business card in his hands, showing it to the crowd.

“What is it ?” Luke asked. “Why did you find it on the crime scene ? Surely the thief didn't left it, right ?”

“In fact,” Carmichael started, taking the card Grosky handed him, “It is strongly possible they left it on purpose.”

“Why do you think so ?” Layton said, putting his hand on his chin.

“This method seemed familiar to me, so I checked on Scotlard Yard's archives about it. I found out that leaving this sort of card is some kind of signature for a certain thief.”

He got from his spot and turned on the video projector near the inspector. On the walls were projected a photo of the card, with a blurry one of a person.

“This thief is known as 'Fox'. Our most ancien case about him is from the fifteenth century, and we have a lot more between this era and now. So we assume Fox is just an username, used by some thiefs during this period. Maybe more.”

“Don't you know who he was ? Or, who they were ?” Luke asked, scribbling into his journal.

“We don't have any clue. We can suppose that a family or something like that embodies the Fox role for generations now. Never did he get caught, though.”

“But what is disturbing is that the card Fox usually left are different from the card we found two days ago.” Grosky completed, showing another photo on the projector. “Fox's card is shaped as this one with the same colors, but with its two eyes clearly open and with no mouth.”

He handed Layton the card. The difference were clearly visible : this one has its right eye closed, and a sly smile with its tongue sticking out.

“Maybe our thief is a copycat ?” Luke proposed. “Maybe he wanted to mimic the Fox, and left it to imitate him.”

“Or our Fox wants to be different from the others.” Layton stated.

“That's basically it.” Carmichael said. “We don't know who our thief is. The last Fox's case was fifteen years ago, when he stole an artifact from a digsite in Denmark. We don't know what happened between this moment and today.”

“So we just have theories, right ? It won't be an easy task to find the real identity of this thief...” Luke sighed.

Layton frowned, deep in reflexion. “What did Fox steal in this last case ?”

“According to the dig site's chief, an Azran dagger.”

“So the common point between our two thefts is the Azran.” Layton stated.

“That's it. There's a possibility that Fox was working with Targent, I suppose.” Grosky said, crossing his arms. “If this is the case, we may catch him soon, since our men have been investigating every Targent's quarters around the world.”

“I won't be so sure about that.” Carmichael said. “He escaped from Interpol's grisp for centuries. He won't be caught so easily.”

Layton sighed. This was definitely not going to be easy.

Emmy was waiting near Inspector's Grosky's office for almost thirty minutes now. She was sitting on a chair near the only window of the corridor, legs crossed and her chin resting on her right hand. She sighed.

It was beginning to be quite long. She wondered what they were talking about. Maybe about the theft. This thought made her smile a little while she studied every person crossing the street outside of the police station. But her smile quickly faded. The professor was helping Scotland Yard to catch the thief- no, _her_. This wasn't good.

Emmy let her head fall against the wall, sighing. She hoped Grosky won't ask her too many questions about it. She already had been interrogated many times before, but never by the inspector himself, as if he was avoiding her. After what happened at the hotel, it was clear that was what he did.

Her hand reached her camera pouch behind her and opened it, pulling out her father's mask. As policemen searched in all the hotel rooms to try to retrieve the stolen artifacts, she kept sure they didn't find it. Rolling it around her right hand's palm, she stared blankly at it. It became an habit for her to tie it like this when she wasn't feeling well. The familiar smoothness of the silk and the tight knot around her palm made her feel calmer.

After a while, Emmy heard heavy footsteps on the corridor. Lifting her head, she saw the inspector Grosky walking towards her. He was still too far away to see her, so she quickly untied the mask and hid it on her camera pouch before standing up. Fortunately, he was alone. She somehow expected the professor would be with him, and his absence relieved her.

When Grosky reached her, he looked at her for mere seconds before opening his office and asked her to enter. She did, standing in the middle of the room. It wasn't as huge and impressive as his own in Scotland Yard but it still did the job, she assumed.

“Sit here,” the inspector said, poiting a chair at the opposite of his while he sat on his own. Emmy didn't bother to stand straight and leaned on the chair, waiting for the inspector to talk.

He leaned of his desk, his head on his joined hands and stared at her. There was an akward silence for seconds before he began speaking.

“I assume you know why you're here, right ?”

“I guess so.” she answered without looking away from his eyes.

Grosky remained silent, thinking about his choice of words.

“Are you just going to stare at me and waiting for me to answer inexistant questions ?” Emmy said after a while, crossing her arms against her chest. He puffed.

“I see you haven't lost your sense of humor.” he ironically said. “Let's start, so. Since when do you work for Targent ?”

“I was fifteen when I joined.”

“Why ?”

“Leon Bronev offered me the opportunity. I simply took it.”

“What's your relationship with him ?”

“He may be my uncle. Why do you ask ? I've already answered all of this questions for your colleagues.”

“Whay do you mean, 'he may be' ?”

Emmy blinked slowly before speaking. “I've met him when I was eleven. We spent a lot of time together, so we got close quickly.”

“At the point of joining a criminal organization ?”

Her body tensed. “I didn't know at the time.”

“So you joined Targent without knowing what is was ?”

“Kind of.”

Grosky sighed. He knew Emmy could be quite stubborn sometimes but it was beginning to annoy him greatly.

“Listen, Emmy. It doesn't please me to interrogate you like this, so please try to cooperate a little bit and it will be over soon.”

“I'm all ears, Inspector.”

“Can you describe me precisely what kind of job you were asked ?”

“Bronev ordered me to spy on Professor Layton as his assistant. My objective was to find any information about the Azran to report it to him.”

“So you did this for three years ?”

“I did.”

“Why do you explain it to me so easily ?”

“Because you asked me ?”

“Don't you fear Targent would punish you for this ?”

Emmy smiled. Her eyes never left the inspector's since the beginning. “Targent's time is over, inspector.”

“I don't think so.”

He put three photos in front of her. One of the Azran dagger Bronev used in the sanctuary, one of the Azran keystone, and one of the business card.

“Those two,” he said, poiting at the dagger and the key. “were stolen two days ago. The thief left this behind him after his heist.” he pointed at the card. “We have reasons to think Targent is behind all of this. So why can you say so surely that Targent won't be active anymore ?”

Emmy looked at the pictures. If only he knew.

“Bronev has been arrested. He was the boss. The Azran legacy had been discovered and it now lies at the bottom of a nearly frozen lake. Isn't it enough ?”

“It doesn't mean they would stop searching for Azran relics. Such as the one that were stolen. As a matter of fact, you were here at the moment they were stolen, and you worked for Targent. Or you still do ?”

Emmy sighed loudly. “My hotel room is constantly watched by a guard and it's at the fourth roof. Again, your men asked me about it and I answered them I couldn't fly, even if I would love to. And I didn't leave my room this night. Please, Inspector, if you want to incriminate me for something I didn't do, try to find better proofs than that.”

“I simply try to do my job.”

“Then do it better.”

Grosky closed his eyes. He couldn't be angry right now. Emmy clearly seemed to be out of reach from him, and if he wanted answers, he would have to break the little wall she built between them.

“Emmy. We know each other for a long time now, don't we ?”

“We do.”

“I refuse to think you lied this entire time. I'm sure the Emmy I know is not the one standing in front of me right now. You are hurt, I can see it in your eyes.”

Emmy remained silent, slowly letting her hands rest on his office as she straigtened herself.

“I want to help you. But for that I need you to answer honestly to my questions.”

She didn't say anything, looking away from him. He noticed her eyes seemed blank at the moment. Maybe he found an opportunity to break this wall.

“Is someone threatening you to do this ? Or threatening to hurt you or your family, like Targent did to some of its employees ?”

He reached his hand towards her, placing it on her own. She didn't move.

_Family..._

“Please, Emmy. Tell me what's wrong. I... I'm sorry, you know ? For my attitude. I haven't been really nice to you lately. I was sure you lied to us for so long... It kind of hurt me. But now I see you may feel worse than we are about this.”

Emmy remained silent. Her head was lowered so that her hair hid her face from him.

“Please, Emmy. You're not alone.”

Her eyes watered at the inspectors words. Fortunately he couldn't see it.

_I'm not alone..._

Her hands began trembling under the inspector's. He noticed it, and squeezed the hand he was holding a little harder.

“Inspector...” she whispered.

“Yes ?”

“ _Listen to me, my girl. If you want to be as perfect as your father, you'll have to follow every rule I taught you. Understood ?”_

“ _Yes, daddy !”_

“ _Okay, so first one : Always keep you head up. Fox is proud of himself. Vixen too.”_

_I'm sorry, dad. I can't. I hurt to many people around me._

“Have you ever loved someone, inspector ? Not necessarily as a lover, just... Being strongly attached to someone.”

“What do you mean ?”

“When you care about someone so deeply you can't imagine your life without this person ? When everything you do is for this person's sake, because you always want to make them proud of you ?”

“I...”

“ _Second rule, which is in fact another part of the first. Don't ever doubt about anything you do. Always face what you did with a bright smile, even when you fail. That's what made Fox what he is today.”_

_How could I ? I used the madness of a broken man to achieve my goals. I lied to the most respectable man I ever met I my life. How could I be proud of this ?_

“Do you even know how it feels like, when this person smiles at you and congrats you for anything, even for the littlest things, and you're just so overjoyed you feel like you can beat anything ?”

Grosky looked at the young girl with a worried face. The hand he was holding clenched into a trembling fist.

“Have you ever told someone you loved them so much your life doesn't mean anything without them ? Have you...”

“ _Will you bring me with you one day, daddy ?”_

“ _If you want it, yes. But not now, you are too young for this. When you'll be old enough, we'll go to work together.”_

“ _Really ?”_

“ _Of course ! Practise is everything, my dear.”_

“Have you ever lost this person, Inspector ? When you see them getting too far away from you, but you don't realize it. And before you can't understand what happened, it's too late, because he is gone for good, and you didn't even know how but now you're alone in a world you can't understand because he's not here by your side anymore.”

“ _Daddy ? Daddy, where are you ?”_

“ _Vix, look at me. Look at me, girl ! We can't go back here. We have to go, now !”_

“ _But Daddy is still there ! I can't leave without him !”_

“ _Just keep running !”_

“ _No ! I won't leave without him !”_

Tears fell on Emmy's knees, one by one. She felt her mind going fuzzy. Her voice was trembling.

“Did- did you ever wake up in the morning, believing everything's alright, that you're not alone, and then you realize he's not here anymore, and then you feel as if a part of you had been ripped off you every time you think about it, but you have to live with this feeling, without the man you once know, and who's not here anymore ?”

She took a rather harsh breath, surprising the inspector. Her hands left his, resting on her laps.

“Emmy... Are you alright ?” he asked.

“Because I do. I know all of this feelings. I...” she sniffed, but didn't bother drying her wet tears as she looked up at Grosky. The inspector felt her heart broke at this sight. She was always so tough, so smiling...

“I... I had to do this, inspector. I had to. I'm sorry if I hurt you, I know I did, but I had no choice.”

Grosky stared at Emmy with sad eyes. He didn't know what happened between Bronev and her that made her feel this upset, but all he could see now, was a broken girl, trying to save her uncle from his darkness.

Emmy dried her eyes with her sleeve, trying to steady her breath. She couldn't think about him now. She couldn't give up when everything was just starting. All she did was for him, and she won't give up. But it felt too much for her.

“You can throw me in your darkest cells if you want. I've already been punished enough the day I lost him.” she said, looking away from the inspector.

Grosky crossed his arms on his desk, not knowing what to say. He just watched his friend with sorrowful eyes, while a single tear run on her delicate cheek one last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY


	6. Chapter VI : Reunion

_ Chapter VI : Reunion _

Emmy closed the door of Grosky's office.

This discussion was... weird, to say the least. She didn't know why she said all of this to the inspector, but she certainly felt better than before. Maybe talking about him was a good thing.

Grosky didn't say anything about going to prison, though. She hoped he would let her go off the hook. By the way he looked at the end of their conversation, it was possible.

Emmy left the police station and immediately felt the cold air brushing her face. She shivered a little. It must be around three in the afternoon by then. Maybe eating something would be good. She began walking to the hotel.

It didn't feel right. The inspector should be mad at her, not friendly. She betrayed him after all, how could he be so kind, especially after ignoring her since the Azran fall ? She assumed he did it so that she would give him informations, but he seemed so sincere in the meantime...

She tightened her grip around her arms, still shivering. She was in the middle of the village now. The hotel wasn't too far away. She sped up.

Anyway, she musn't let her emotions control her. Her plan just started and she won't let anyone stop her now. The next step would be returning to London and wait for something to happen. According to her plan, someone could contact her at any moment now.

Emmy arrived at the hotel soon after. She took the time to appreciate the warm atmosphere in before going to the restaurant. She just realized how hungry she was at the moment.

The waiter quickly came to her to take her order. In the meantime, Emmy spotted the professor at the entrance. Luke wasn't with him, so she assumed he was resting in their room. But then again, the young girl wasn't sure if she wanted to see them. Unfortunately, he was walking towards her.

The waited left, and Layton tipped his hat.

“Can I ?” he asked, looking at the chair in front of her.

“...Yeah.”

Her eyes followed him as he sat. The waiter came back to take his order, and left soon after.

“How are you doing ?”

“I'm... Fine.”

“I hope your discussion with Grosky went well ?”

“Ah.. Yeah, kind of.”

She leaned on the table, crossing her fingers. A akward silence went by, the two not knowing what to say.

The waiter arrived with their orders and they began to eat.

“How was your meeting ?” Emmy asked after a couple of minutes. It didn't felt right to be this cold with him. She had to soothe the atmosphere a little bit.

“It was... Special, to say the least. I think we will have some work when we'll be back in London.”

“We ?”

Layton looked at her, smiling. “Of course 'we'. I told you Luke and I hold nothing against you, my dear.”

Emmy felt her cheeks warming. How could he be so... friendly, even after what happened ?

“I don't know, professor.” she whispered before taking a sip from her water glass.

“I won't force you into nothing, don't worry about it. I just wanted to tell you that you'll still be my assistant if you want it.”

She looked at him, deep in thought. He was still smiling at her, as if nothing happened. The same smile she began to appreciate. She quickly lowered her head and continued eating.

“We have to be allowed to go back in London for that.”

“In fact, inspector Grosky told me we could return there tomorrow. He offered us three seats with him in the morning.”

She just nodded.

The next week was strangely an usual one. Emmy decided to stay at Layton's side for the time being, and even if their conversations were sometimes still a little bit odd for her, everything was fine since their arrival. It would have been suspicious if she left him right after the theft, especially after her discussion with the inspector.

As she expected, the heist in Froenborg had been the subject of some newspapers quickly. Of course, Fox was back after nearly fifteen years, after all. It'll be on the first pages for a long time now. She felt proud of it, since it was her first mission with the Fox's colors, and she was eager to continue. The world has to know that Fox is actually Vixen after all.

Speaking of it, Emmy began feeling anxious about her plan. Other than that, she heard nothing about the heist. It was obvious the Vipers would be curious about it, since they seemed to be so focused on Azran relics, but they didn't show any interest at all yet. She began worrying this would have been for nothing.

But what was bothering her was also the professor's behaviour. He was so kind with her, as if nothing happened. It felt nice to know he wasn't mad at her, but it hurt her to think about him, since she planned to leave London as soon as someone will contact her.

Layton tried to ask her about Targent, though. Asking why she joined, what was her relation with Bronev... She assumed he wanted to know if she was his cousin, and she wondered if what she saw in his eyes when she said she wasn't was relief. Why would he be relieved anyway ?

Emmy never saw him as a cousin, and she never really saw Bronev as an uncle either. He had always been more of a guardian than anything, but he had asked her to refer to him as ''uncle'' as to not blow her cover.  Then, if asked, she could say that to policemen or whatnot. But her only family was in Caimeen. They were the only one she really trusted. 

_ No, not anymore.  _ She trusted the professor too, now. But not enough to tell him about her story, though. 

Emmy started to care a lot about it, actually. But in order to protect him, she had to ignore these fellings, whatever these were. Who knows what the Vipers could do... 

Elijah stepped into Gressenheller's walls, smiling as he lifted his right hand which was holding his vest on his shoulder. There he was, at last !

It was fun for him to be here, since he never went to any university at all. And here he was, acting like a normal student attempting to his first class of the day. He adjusted his tie.

Connor chose his clothes himself, and for the first time in twenty five years, Elijah liked it. It consisted on a white shirt and a red tie, with a dark blue vest. It was far too hot to wear it though. His outfit was completed with trousers that matched the vest, with dark shoes. He really looked like a basic student.

He ran his left hand on his face as he was staring at the university's map, wondering how people here manage to not get lost with all theses rooms and corridors. Luckily for him, he heard two students talking about a certain professor Layton class that was about to begin, which was exactly what he was looking. He followed them.

When he entered the room, he saw quite a lot of people. Searching through the many seats, he spotted one, not too far away for the blackboard. He walked towards it and noticed a young girl chatting with her friend just next to it.

“Excuse me, is this seat available, miss ?” he asked with a bright smile. The girl turned her head to him.

“Oh, erm, yes...”

“Thanks !”

Elijah let himself fall in it with a satisfying sight. The girl blushed, and looked away as he smiled at her.

It always amused him, how girls acted around him. He certainly knew he was a nice looking man, but still had issues with these reactions. Actually, he was quite a handsome man; a dashing smile with bright, white teeth, ocean blue, almond eyes, a nice stubble beard he cherished just like his father did and dark hair, nicely layered over the side of his head.

Elijah smirked as he inspected the room. It was quite fun to be in there, surrounded by innocent students. If only the girl at his side knew who he was...

After a few minutes of whisperings and laughs around the room, he saw someone entering. Elijah spotted the top hat, so he assumed it was the professor Layton. Following him was a quite lovely girl in yellow...

He crossed his arms, leaned on his chair, and smiled. She looked absolutely beautiful.

Emmy put the box fulled with artifacts on the professor's desk, while he was greeting his students. She quickly got ths objects out of it before putting the box away. Then, she looked briefly at the mass of students in front of them.

She spotted bright blue eyes and a large smile in the middle of the crowd. She froze.

_Elijah..._

Their eyes were locked on each other. Everything around Elijah didn't matter at the moment. It was just Emmy and him, silently greeting each other after years apart.

He crossed his arms on his chest, waiting for her next move.

Emmy shook her head a little, trying to calm her heartbeat. He was right here, in front of her. Was it the signal ? She guessed so.

The professor's class didn't began, so she quickly walked to him, asking about the day's lesson. Her right hand resting on the side of her tight, she began tapping it.

Elijah frowned, wondering what she was doing. Her finger beat some weird melody he didn't understand. Then, it hit him.

Morse code.

He focused on her rhythm, smirking.

_E... E... T...._ Meet.... _B....E....H...._ Behind...

She finished taping after some time, then walked away from the professor to her usual spot. She didn't bother to check if he saw the message, she knew he had.

_Meet me behind Gressenheller after class._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank Kyoukalay for her helping on this chapter <3 Love ya !


	7. Chapter VIII : I missed you

The next two hours felt like decades for Emmy.

Usually, when the professor was teaching, she stayed for the first fifteen minutes, making sure everything was alright, then she left so she can assist meetings and such. But her mind was too focused on Elijah's presence to think about anything else.

He was right here, in Gressenheller. Emmy was sure Elijah or Connor would go in London to inform her on her next mission, but it still felt weird to see him after so long.

Emmy checked her watch after another meeting : the class will be over in twenty minutes. She just had the time to go in the classroom to take some artifacts the professor used, to store them in his office and leave for the meeting point. She was sure nobody would spot them, since there was just a dustbin location and the janitor usually didn't come in at this hour.

She opened slowly the door as she did everytime and quickly put the used objects. She could feel Elijah's stare on her back as he hurried up before leaving.

After storing the artifacts in Layton's office, she left the buildings and crossed the gardens. There was actually a way in to go to the dustbin location, but the young girl wanted some fresh air.

She arrived at their meeting point and checked her watch another time. The class must have ended. She leaned against a tree nearby.

Her mind was running. It's been a week since they returned from Froenborg, a week since the heist, and finally something happen. Of course one week wasn't a really long period, but the Vipers were known to be quite fast and affective. She hasn't heard of them however, so she thought it would be best to wait for Elijah to come before making her own conclusions. She crossed her arms and waited.

After a couple of minutes, Emmy heard some noises inside the building. Classes must have ended. Her hands gripped her forearms as she began tapping the ground with her feet.

And then the door opened in a creacking noise. She lifted her head and saw a dark haired head sneacking out of it. His back faced her for what seemed like hours while he closed the door.

Then, he turned his head towards her, and she met the blue eyes she missed so much during these past few years. A big smile brightened his face when he walked to her. Without saying anything, Emmy ran the last meters and threw herself in his arms, locking hers around his neck. Elijah put one hand behing her head and his other on her back, hugging her close. They needed no words to tell the other how much they missed each other.

Emmy sobbed silently in Elijah's arms as he carresed her back, burrying his face on her hair. Her grip losened around him as her lifted her head to look at him.

“I'm so glad to see you again...” she whispered, smiling at him. His thumb caressed her cheek.

“Me too, Em'. How are you doing ?”

“Better now that you're here.”

Elijah laughed. “Trying to seduce me, miss ? Sorry to disappoint but I'm not an easy man, you know...”

Emmy giggled as she slapped his chest. “Of course not, silly !”

The young man gave her a bright smile before releasing her. “You know I'm just kidding.”

“I sure hope you do. Now, tell me why you're here.”

Elijah put his hand on the right pocket of his pants, pulling out a paper he handed to her. Emmy took it.

“A photo ?” she asked, eyeing him curiously.

“Yup. You were right, Em'.”

“For what ?”

“After you left Froenborg, we kept an eye on the ruins as you asked us. And guess what ?”

Emmy took a step back, now facing him. She lookef at him directly in his eyes.

“The Vipers came.”

“Yup ! And this-” he pointed the photo.”-is what I took when they searched on the lake. It was quite fast, since policemen quickly found them but I was able to take a picture of one of them.”

Emmy studied the picture closely. She could see a man, probably on his late fourties.

“Hm, his face is quite blurred, though. I really need to teach you some tips, Eli...” she said, smirking.

“Meh. Shawn said it was enough to identify him.”

“How long ?”

“He still needs time. Probably a couple of days. Dad wanted to wait until we know who he is before telling you, but hey, I wanted to see my princess.”

Emmy looked at the sky, sighing. “Stop that, dummy. You're not even funny.”

“Oh, but you're smiling, hm ?” he teased.

“Shut it !”

Emmy eyeing him with a frown on her face while he laughed, but soon she joined him. It fell so good to see him again, and she was glad everything was like before between them.

“What can we do until then ?” she asked.

“I don't know. You can come back in Caimeen if you want, or stay here.”

Emmy crossed her arms, thinking. The Vipers were known by the police to be a group of thief similar to Fox : as a nickname. Nobody knows who they were in real life. If Shawn could find the identity of only one of them, it was already a real achievement.

“I think I'll stay here for the time being. If that's alright with you.”

“Yup, don't worry. We have more than three years to catch up with, right ?” Elijah answered. Emmy smiled.

“Yes, we have. But right now I'm still at work, you know...”

“When will you be free ?”

“At six.”

“Okay, so I'll pick you up at six, and we'll go eating outside. My gift.”

She frowned. “What will you do until then ?” Elijah shrugged.

“I don't know. Sleep in my hotel room, maybe.”

“You paid a hotel room ?” Emmy asked, her eyebrows raised.

“Well... Yes ? Where else would I sleep ?”

She sighed, pulling out her keys. “Elijah, you can be the dumbest boy on Earth sometimes. Here, bring your stuff in my appartment. It's quite small for the both of us but it'll do.”

Elijah eyed her curiously, smirking. “You are inviting me to your house ? Darling, it's too fast between us...”

Emmy slapped him again, on his arm. “You are my brother, silly boy ! Stop doing this !”

“Aw, Em' ! You know I'm joking ! You loved my jokes before.”

“We're still on campus ! Even if there is barely someone here at this hour, somebody could hear us and I really don't want any more rumors right now.” She pouted, slightly blushing. “There are enough of them regarding the professor and I...”

Elijah smiled. “This famous professor, uh... You'll have to tell me all about him too tonight. And hey,-” he gently grabbed her hands, pulling her into his arms. “-I'm glad to hear you saying this.”

“Saying what ?”

“ 'You're my brother'. I thought you'll forget about me when you left.” He rested his head on her own.

Emmy hugged him. “I don't think a brother would try to seduce his sister, though. But I'll never forget you, Elijah, you know that.”

“Hm. And I'll never forget my little sister too.”

She looked at him with a frown. “I'm older than you.”

Elijah let her go, smirking. “Only for a few months. But hey, you look so tiny ! You barely reach my neck. So yep, you're my little sister.”

“I'm not !”

“Of course you are !”

Emmy looked at him with a pouting face. She know he could be stubborn sometimes... But she missed him anyway.

“You know what ? I'll let you say that for one condition.”

“What ?” he asked.

“I wanna eat Italian food.”

Elijah puffed, smirking. “If that's all, it's a small price. As small as you.”

“And you'll pay.”

“Meh.”

“It's for saying I'm small.”

“But you are !”

Emmy checked her watch. “Listen, I'll love to squabble with you but classes are about to begin, and I have to find the professor before that. So you go home, and you wait for me. Is that clear ?”

“Yes ma'am ! I'll go right away, and I'll steal your scotter too ! You live too far away.”

“What ?! I haven't told you where I live yet !”

“I know it already. Well, see ya, Em' !” Elijah said, smirking.

Emmy glared at him, a small smile forming on her face as he walked away, toying with her keys between his fingers.


	8. Chapter VIII : Plans

** 3 days later **

Layton woke up with the sound of his strident phone ring. The clock in his room stroke seven in the morning. On Sunday...

He quickly got up and stretched his arms, yawning as he walked downstairs to answer the call.

“Good morning, Hershel Layton speaking.” he said, trying to sound confident despite his another yamn.

“Good morning, Layton !” Grosky said cheerfully. Layton winced as he drew the phone away from his ear. “Sorry to wake you, but I need you to go to Scotland Yard right away, if that's possible.”

“Is there anything wrong ?” Layton asked. By the tone of the inspector's voice, something big must have happened.

“Not at all. We just have some news concerning the Fox's case. Someone to help us. I thought you'd want to meet him.”

“Ah... Of course. I'm coming right away.”

“Good.” The beeping tune on the other side of the phone showed Grosky ended the call, so Layton put the phone back to its place.

“Some news about Fox...” he said out loud.

The professor quickly got his morning tea before grabbing his coat, and left his house.

He arrived at Scotland Yard twenty minutes after. He quickly parked his car before entering the building. There were a lot less of civilians, thanks to the early hour, but a lot of policemen were already at work. He went to meet the nearest and asked where Grosky was at the moment.

“The inspector is in his office, waiting for you, professor ! I'll show you the way.”

Layton tipped in hat with a little smile and followed him. When they arrived, the policemen quickly bowed before returning to Scotland Yard's entrance, leaving Layton in front of Grosky's office door. He knocked two times, waiting for an anwser.

“Come in !”

He opened the door and entered the room. As soon as he lifted his head, he taught Grosky's stare, and the glimpse of another man behind him. They were talking near the window, and the reflect of the sunlights on the man hid his face.

“Ah, Layton ! Thank you for coming this early.”

“It's no problem, Inspector. What do you need me with ?” the professor asked. The stranger turned his head away from him.

“Actually, we don't really need you. We wanted to introduce you to our new ally.” Grosky stretched his hand toward the man, who ajusted his glasses. He slowly turned his body towards Layton, still avoiding his stare.

Layton's eyes got wide as soon as he recognized the man.

“It can't be...”

Elijah opened the door of Emmy's room silently. She was sleeping peacefully, envelopped in her thick blanket and hugging her pillow. She looked like a little girl holding her teddy bear. Elijah sat up beside her, gently shaking her shoulder.

“Hey, sleepyhead, wake up.” he said softly. She grunted and turned around, her back facing him.

He giggled softly, shaking her arm again. “Em, I said wake up...”

“... What time is it...” she mumbled on her pillow.

“Almost eight.”

“Hm... Too early...”

“Nah, because we have an appointment today.”

She opened a eye, and looked at him suspiciously. “What ? With who ?”

“I'll explain when you'll get up.”

“Meh.”

Emmy stretched her body as she yawned, while Elijah stood up. Seeing as she was still long to get up, he grabbed the blanket and threw it aside, earning a yelp from the lady.

“God, Elijah, what are you doing ? It's cold !”

“I said. Get. Up !”

“But I am !”

He giggled as he left her room with Emmy still whinig, now sitting on her bed. He walked into the kitchen to make breakfast while she got ready, thinking about the rest of their day.

Someone from Caimeen bumped into him yesterday to tell him news about their case. It was common for him to run into someone in the middle of the street to do business with him, since he believed the better way to not be suspicious was to act as everything was completely normal, and this day one of his spy contacted him to tell him they put a name on the stranger in the picture. He already made a complete plan of their next actions, but he still needed to explain it to Emmy and the others who will join them.

Elijah's job consisted of collecting informations in order to sell it, or for his own good. Thanks to his father's ties, he had quite a lot of connections everywhere in the world and especially in the United Kingdom. He was also the one behind every Vixen's plans, which Emmy was glad for.

Emmy walked out of her room just when Elijah finished setting up their breakfast. He gave her a warm smile as she sat down in front of him. She always had a pouting face when she wakes up, and Elijah loved it. She looked like a little girl, but he never dared to tell her. Too afraid of the consequences...

They stayed silent for a while, enjoying each other's presence while eating. But Emmy's patience has its limits.

“So, what will we do today ?” she asked after devouring her toast and eggs.

Elijah finished his orange juice before answering. “We'll meet the guys who will help us tomorrow night. Shawn contacted me. He said they know who the dude on the pic was.”

“Oh ? And who is it then ?”

“His name is Fabio Conti. From what I heard, he hides his business under an art collector's mask, but he made his fortune by stealing and resell artifacts and whatnot on different black markets. I think he's the one responsible of the Vipers' wealth.”

“Hm. Sounds kind of important. Why was he in Froenborg, though ? Wouldn't it be more accurate for him to stay hidden and just collect the stolen artifacts ?”

“I don't know. What's funny is that they actually didn't steal anything from the Azran ruins. I assumed they wanted to check in, but you were here before them.” He smiled at her.

“I'm always one step ahead.” Emmy replied, smirking as she drank her tea.

“Ha, of course... Anyway, I already know how we will catch him. We just need one more thing...”

“Which is ?”

“A ancien blade. I've heard he's searching for it. He seems stupid enough to not hide his face during a heist, so I'm sure we could reach him if we got it.”

“And where is it now ?”

“I'll explain to you with the others. Let's finish and prepare ourselves, we have to be at the meeting point at nine.”

Emmy nodded.

They both left Emmy's flat some time later. The meeting point wasn't really far away from there, so they could go by foot.

It was weird for Emmy to be with Elijah. She hadn't seen him for so long... They were barely teenagers when they saw each other. Now here they were, grown up adults, working together. Emmy still spotted funny looks of passers-by while they walked, her hand gripping at Elijah's sleeve, but she couldn't care less.

Before she noticed, they arrived in front of Scotland Yard.

“Is it a good idea to be there ?” she asked.

“We haven't done anything illegal... yet. Don't worry, sis.” Elijah replied, patting her shoulder. “Let's move.”

As he began speeding his pace, Emmy spot a familiar hat in the crowd. Her eyes wided as he grabbed Elijah's wrist and pulled him behind the nearest wall. He yelped at this, but quickly shut up when he saw the look on her face. Eyeing her suspiciously, as if asking what's wrong, he turned his head to look at what she was staring at. A brownish top hat, on top of a nice looking man.

“Professor Layton, I suppose ?” he whispered. She nodded, her eyes still fixed on her boss.

“What is he doing here, at the Yard ?” she mumbled, tightening her grip on Elijah's wrist.

“Don't know. I might start watching him. He could certainly be dangerous for us. What a boss you have, uh...”

Elijah's remark fell in deaf ears. Emmy's heart was beating so fast she couldn't hear anything else. What was this feeling inside of her chest ? Why was she so panicked, just by seeing him ? Did the Yard call him for a case ? The Vixen case ? Her family managed to stay hidden under the Fox's mask for centuries. She couldn't bare it if someone finds her. She would be the failure of her family. But strange enough, that wasn't what was scaring her the most. The pain inside of her told her everything she needed : she was afraid to deceive the professor. Afraid he would fire her, that he wouldn't allow her near him anymore after discovering her true nature. But was she really evil ?

Elijah seemed to notice Emmy's discomfort, and gently pulled her into his embrace.

“Don't worry, sis. He won't find anything.”

She let him lead the way after Layton entered the building.

Professor Layton came home an hour after meeting with Grosky, with their new... “ally”, as the inspector said.

“Please make yourself at home. I'm going to make tea for the both of us.”

His guest nodded silently and headed into the livingroom. The professor returned a few minutes later with two warm teacups. He sat in front of him, pouring the tea into the cups.

“Thank you.”

“You're very welcome. So, now that we're alone, would you wind telling me what happened to you ?”

“What do you mean ?” his guest said, bringing the cup to his lips.

“I never thought I would meet Desmond Sycamore again...”

“I... I wasn't planning to either.”

Desmond crossed his legs and sighed. Hershel waited for him to say something. He knew the past few days should have been hard on his brother's mind.

His brother...

He still had trouble with this, actually. Learning his long lost brother he forgot about tried to kill him multiple times. But in front of him was not the masked man he once knew. All Hershel could saw was the professor Sycamore, the same as during their journey, but this time with sorrowful eyes.

“After was happened in the Sanctuary, I felt, and I still feel... lost. Targent's days are finished now, and I spend so many years tracking them down that I couldn't find any purpose to live anymore.”

“It has been only a few days, Desmond. It is perfectly fine not to know what to do now.” Hershel replied. “What about Raymond ? Is he still with you ?”

“He retired. In Scotland. He earned this, after taking care of me for so long. I'll forever be in his debt for everything he did, but now he needs rest. That's the best I can offer.”

“I see.”

Desmond took a long breath before speaking again. “I was wandering around Germany when I heard about the heist in Froenborg. I was afraid this thief might work for Targent. Some former members must have not given up their dream even after Bronev's fall, so I wanted to collect informations about this... Fox.” He spat the last name, looking away.

“So you met Inspector Grosky to find clues about Fox's identity ?”

“That is correct. He doesn't seem aware that I am... you know.”

“I don't think so either. I suppose this is a good thing, actually. He wouldn't let you help us otherwise, would he ?”

This earned a tiny smile from his older brother. A little reward for him. He seemed so sad.

“Actually,” Hershel began, “ I'm not sure if Fox works for Targent. From what the Inspector told me, this thief seems to work alone most of the time. But we can't be sure of anything, of course.”

“So I assume you don't have any clue about Fox, right ?” Desmond asked.

“Not at all. I wanted to search in Scotland Yard's files about their history. It seems quite complicated, to say the least.”

“It is. 'Fox' is the culprit of a lot of heists and thieves all around the world from centuries now. This thief could be anyone.”

Hershel put his hand under his chin, thinking. “However, Inspector Grosky said that Scotland Yard nor Interpol have heard about any Fox's case in fifteen years. We must find why.”

Desmond nodded in agreement. They stayed silent for a little while before Layton offered him to stay with him during their investigation, which he accepted.

Their next step would be going into Scotland Yard's records the next day, after Layton's classes.

The reunion with Elijah's friend was...Special.

Emmy still wasn't sure if it was a good idea to show her face to them, but Elijah assured her they were close friend of him. She assumed she could try to trust them.

Elijah's plan was perfect, as usual. The blade was supposed to join the London museum's collection soon, and Scotland Yard stored it in order to prevent any accident. Elijah managed to find its position, and Emmy's job consisted on sneaking through their security system. Two out of the three men were supposed to stun the guards and watch them, but she'll have to be fast. Something she could certainly be. After she got the blade, Emmy would just have to meet the last guy to give it to him before disappearing in London. Elijah would care tare of the rest.

After making sure everyone knew what they were supposed to do, Elijah dismissed the reunion. It was unsual for Emmy to see him this serious. Elijah always had been a whining and loud boy when he was young, and now he looked so much like his father. She wondered how Connor was doing, by the way.

Emmy excused herself to get some fresh air, leaving the boys alone. One of the guys, certainly the oldest of the group, eyed her with a frown before looking at Elijah.

“So this is our Vixen now, hm ? Looks different from the last.” he said.

“She is. I hope you'll all do your job correctly, since I don't want our plan to fail miserably.” Elijah said with a stern voice.

Another man laughed. “Don't worry, Cooper, we know our job. But hey, must be good to live with such a beautiful creature... Hope you'll share later, dude, eh ?” he replied with a mischievious smile. “I wonder how she would look with her head betw-”

Elijah quickly grabbed the man's collar, pushing him against the wall. He lifted him with one hand so his feet barely touched the ground, not bothering to use the other that stayed inside his vest's pocket. The young boy winced as Elijah pressed his arm against his throat.

“If you ever talked about her like that again, friend or not, I'll have you strangled in your sleep. Is that clear enough, or must I draw you a picture ?” Elijah growled, his blue eyes locked in the panicked one of his subordinate.

“C...Clear enough....” the boy managed to said. Elijah removed his ram from him, letting him slide along th wall to regain his breath.

“Good. Now go.”

The two other men quickly bowed before leaving. Too bad their young friend wasn't aware of Elijah's protectiveness towards the Vixen... The boy got on his feet, avoiding his stare and left without saying anything.

Emmy returned minutes later.

“Where did they do ?” she asked.

“Minding their business.” Elijah answered, smiling at her. “We don't need them anymore until tomorrow night. Now, let's get ready, shall we ? Our first big heist awaits !”


	9. Chapter IX : Action

_Chapter IX: Action_

The next day, Hershel and Desmond headed to Scotland Yard right after the professor's classes. They needed informations about this so-called Fox, even though there were slim chances to find anything. Their only clue was the last heist that happened nearly fifteen years ago.

Once arriving at the Yard, Grosky lead them to the archives. Having nothing to do at the end of this day, he decided to help them. They separated the archives in three parts and began searching.

Big Ben striked 11pm.

The Sun was long gone, replaced by a shining Moon over the city. A gentle breeze was blowing, making Emmy's scarf floating in the air behind her with her long brown hair.

She was squatting at the top of the Elizabeth Tour, standing on the tip of her toes, silently breathing through her scarf. Her gloved hands was hanging in the air, between her squatted tights, tapping a slow rhythm according to Big Ben's strikes. London's streets was calm and silent.

She lifted a hand to her ear, repositioning the ear plug. She placed her mask on her face : her eyes were not visible unless you were close enough to see them, her mouth and the tip of her nose hidden by her orange scarf. Too bad she had nothing to lower it, so that it would have been a real fox's tail...

“Ready to strike, Vix ?” she heard Elijah's voice.

“Ready.”

She put her two hands on the edges of her hood, throwing it on her head. She took another calm breath, opened her eyes, and smiled.

“Okay, go in three...”

She arched her back, bending over enough to grip the tip of the rooftop.

“Two...”

The scarf was floating on her side.

“One...”

Just before his “Go”, she stood fast on her feet, jumping in the air.

Elijah was looking at a map of Scotland Yard from Emmy's house. One of his hand on his ear, he was telling orders to the ones already around the police station.

“Are are you going, folks ?”

“Good. We can see the two guards near the entrance. Just as you said. Shall we catch 'em ?”

“Not now. The next guards will take over in around three minutes. Wait until they arrived and strike them.”

He looked at the sky through the window. There was no clouds around, just the shining Moon and the bright stars.

He smiled.

Hershel and Desmond arrived at the records' room, letting Grosky close the door behind them. The room was as it was when they went in weeks ago : messy and dusty.

“It would take us hours before we find anything interesting.” Desmond mumbled.

“Don't worry, I asked some officers to retreive the Fox cases.” the Inspector pointed a pile of records on the desk. “All they found is there. We could search for others if we need it later.”

Layton nodded. He walked towards the desk and took the first file on the pile, when his eyes got attracted by a shining object near the wall in front of him. He let go the file, and went to see it. A blade under a glass protection.

“Why is there a weapon in the archives ?” Layton asked.

“Ah, this.” Grosky said, scratching his neck. “This is the latest aquisistion of the London Museum. The museum director asked us to keep an eye on it. Since almost nobody goes in there and the only entrance is always being watched, we thought this would be the perfect place.” The Inspector grabbed a sheet near it, and covered the blade with it.

“Certainly.”

Desmond took a file from the pile and quickly flipped through it.

“We must start working now, or else we'll still be there tomorrow morning.”

Vixen finished her race around the city and arrived near the entrance, where her two accomplices were. The policemen were chatting about nonsense, before two of them left. She hid behind the first bush she found, and waited for them to knock off the guards.

“Go.” she heard in her earplug. Then, she saw the boys, sneacking behind the newly arrived guards, knocking them off at the same time without being seen.

While they were tieing the policemen, Vixen stepped out of her hiding place, nodding her thanks.

“We'll stay here. When you'll have the blade, go back there. The van is parked nearby.”

“Hm.”

She opened the vent, slipped in, and closed it.

She sneacked in the dark vent tubes of Scotland Yard. When two officers arrived, she stopped all her movements, watching them through a grid. Once they went away, she resumed her race.

“Now, keep moving and turn right at the next intersection. You'll find a larger room, similar to a engine room. Once arrived, you'll find some electrical panels and the ventilations system's machines.”

“Yup.”

She crawled in the vent tube without making a sound.

Monica lifted her head from the files on her desk, frowning. She could swear she heard something around. Looking at the corridor, she found nothing.

“This job is going to make me crazy...” she mumbled.

“Right there. Unlock the vent and go out.”

Vixen once again unscrewed the grid, slowly grabbing it and pulling it so she could place it in the tube. Then, she jumped off head first, flipped in the air and landed on her feet, quiet as a shadow. She stretched her arms, and began moving around the room. No once was there, as Elijah predicted again.

“The electrical panel of the record room is the third one at the back wall.”

She hummed as she walked to it, smiling through her scarf.

“How far away are the archives ?” she asked, opening it.

“The room just before. You'll turn off all the electric system of this floor and the nearest police dude is quite far away. You'll have time to sneack into the vent and go in there. You just unlocked the grid before arriving here, you would be fast enough.”

She giggled. So many buttons on this pannel. She switched off every buttons while humming in rhythm to her movements, before running away. She jumped on the wall, putting her feet so that she could leap on the air tube, and once again disappeared into it.

Layton tried to hide another yawn. It's been three hours since they arrived in the records room, and they found nothing really interesting. So far, they found the last Fox heist : a theft in a small museum, not far away from London. According to the file, the thief stole around ten jewels, each worth nearly ten thousands pounds. Grosky suggested that they should look for all the cases including a theft of jewels and such, and here they were, hours later.

Desmond closed another file, sighing. “Nothing in there either.” He arched his back, hoping it would soothe his sore vertebrae after bending over the records for so long.

Layton checked his watch. It was almost 11.30pm. “We should call it a day. I don't think we could find anything else.”

“I think so too.” Desmond replied.

“You can come back here tomorrow if you want. I'll let the guards know, so they'll let you go in.” the Inspector said.

“We would certainly appreciate it, inspector, thank you.” Hershel said, tipping his hat.

“Well, let's go home now-”

Suddenly, the light went out. There wasn't any window in the archives, so the room became realy dark in seconds.

“A power failure ?” Desmond said.

“I don't know. Strange, the system has been verified last week.” the Inspector answered.

They stayed here for seconds, before the lights returned. They covered their eyes, letting them getting used to the sudden light.

“Ah, someone must've repaired it. Sorry, professors !” Grosky laughed.

“Inspector, the blade !” Desmond stretched his hand to the glass protection. Nothing was under it.

“What ?! Who-”

A giggle was heard in the other side of the room. They turned to the door. A young woman in orange stood there, her face hidden by both a mask and a long scarf that fell from her shoulders to her hips, the blade in her hand and a file in the other.

“Hehe. 'Fox case n°13-A'. I'll take that, if you don't mind...” she said in a high pitched voice. She giggled again.

“You- !” Grosky gasped. “Who are you ?! Stop right there !”

Layton turned his head to the place where the blade had been stored. A business card, the same as Froenborg, was standing in.

Before he could speak again, the girl dashed out of the room. Grosky quickly followed her, Desmond and Hershel in his tail.

“Officers, stop her !” he shouted.

But the Vixen was faster than them, and she quickly jumped in the air vent.

“This leads to the entrance !” a policemen nearby screamed. Grosky and the professors followed him until they left the Yard. Nobody was here, except from the officers around the area that heard the alert.

One pointed the roof just above us. “She's there !”

Layton lifted his gaze. The Vixen was indeed in the middle of the roof, the blade on her back and the file still in hand. Looking at them, she stretched her arms at her sides, and took a deep bow. Then, she jumped on the windowsill behind her, using it to leap on the upper roof of Scotland Yard, and started running.

“I'm going after her,” Desmond said, gritting his teeth. “You follow us on ground !”

On this, he jumped on the roof, following her steps.

Vixen lept from rooftops to rooftops, sliding on gutters and taking turns and all to avoid Desmond, but he kept following her. Certainly, his training during his Azran takedown must be useful for this. Even though he couldn't slide like her on pipes and gutters, he certainly was fast on his feet.

But she wouldn't loose him like this. She sped up.

Desmond followed her, not even out of breath even after running so fast. But he was still too far away from her to catch her. Vixen eyed the ground : she spotted a top hat, running after them. She haven't lost them either.

“What. The fuck. Are you doing ?!” she heard Elijah screaming in her earplug. She whinced. “You were supposed to join the others, where are you ?!”

“Kinda... Occupied !” she answer in a small voice, not wanting Desmond to hear her. She jumped on another rooftop below her and rolled to maintain her momentum.

“I swear to God, I'm going to kill you. Everything was perfect, why did you do this ?”

“Not fun if not chased !”

But even if it was indeed thrilling, she began worrying about it. She won't let them catch her : it was her second heist after all, and Fox had never been arrested.

And then she had an idea. She stopped her race, turning around so she could face Desmond. Caught off guard, Desmond stopped too, only a few meters away from her.

He took the time to look at her while he tried to catch his breath. She seemed to be quite young, according to her strong abilites this far. A slim figure, all in a orange hoodie with fox ears, with black pants that hugged her perfectly. She also was wearing high black boots, and a fox-shaped mask hid her face, the same fox pictured in her business card. The lowest part of her face was hidden behind a large scarf, rolled around her shoulders and floating in the air. Desmond had noticed the Fox's symbol on her back, and he could see it again on the back of her black gloves.

Vixen tilted her head. “You don't catch me ?” she asked, still with her strange voice.

“Why don't you run away ?” the professor returned, frowning.

She stretched her arm to him, handing him the file.

“I, the great Vixen, shall be mercyful for ya. Take that as a rewarding.” she put her gloved finger on her cheek, giggling. “Little to no one had never been able to follow us foxes.”

Desmond eyed at the file. It was obviously a trap. Why would she have done all of this, if it was just to return what she stole ?

“And the blade ?” he said cautiously.

“If I give you the blade, I would've done all of this for nothing...”

She shook the file. “Here, take that.”

Desmond, still suspicious, reached out to her. Just before he could grab it, she backed away.

“Buuuuut I have a condition. You let me go right after.”

He shrugged. “Of course.”

Vixen pouted behind her scarf. He was lying. She knew the man way too well to be fooled. She slowly handed him the file, and he took it.

As soon as he had put his fingers on it, she quickly backed away her arm again, causing him to stumble. She swiftly took a step towards him, putting down her scarf to free her mouth.

Desmond's eyes got wide when she kissed him.

Layton and Grosky, who just had arrived down the building Desmond and the Vixen were, watched the scene in awe.

Desmond felt like his body couldn't move. The kiss she gave him was fierce, harder when she put her hand on his cheek. His hands were shaking, his breath caught in his throat. _What was happenning ?_

She let him go seconds after, smiling. Seeing the horrified state he was in, she seized the opportunity to run away, the file in hand.

Layton and Grosky quickly joined Desmond on the rooftop.

“Are you alright ?” Hershel asked.

Desmond jumped when he heard his voice. He quickly shook his head, and put his glasses back in place.

“I am. Sorry, Inspector, but she ran away.” he said with a trembling voice.

Grosky nodded, frowning. They could still see a slim shadow, that quickly disappeared between London's houses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHE


	10. Chapter X : Calm before the storm

“Vixen entered Scotland Yard from behind, at around eleven and a half. Two accomplices knocked off the guards there. According to their testimonies, none of them have seen anyone.”

“What did she stole ?”

“The Azran blade stored in the Archives room and the Fox 13-A file. Nothing else.”

“Something suspicious around the room ?”

“We found some vent grids being unscrewed. Thanks to that we were able to find her path around : she first went to the engine room, probably turned off the electrical system, and went to the archives directly after that.”

“So she must be slim enough to slip through the vent tubes.”

“Anyone in mind, Inspector ?”

“Not really. But I need to see someone first, before starting to investigate.”

“Of course. Do as you please.”

Emmy woke up at the sound of her alarm. Groaning, she stretched her arm out of the blanket to turn it off.

Her bedroom was plunged into a soft darkness, light creeping into the room from the curtains. Her small figure was hidden under the bed sheets, her face hidden on her pillow. The soreness in her legs has not disappeared after some rest, certainly too tired from the chase on the rooftops last night. She sat on her bed, rubbing her eyes.

The night was quite eventful. After loosing Desmond, she went straight to the Thames shores, where Elijah told her someone would wait for the blade. There, she found a grumpy man on a small boat, who took the blade without asking anything and went away. She wasn't sure is they could trust him, but he did gave her quite a lot of money after. The blade should be on the Black Market soon.

When Emmy arrived home, however, she had to face a quite angry Elijah. He was the kind of man that liked when his plans were doing smoothly, and he hated Vixen's manner to reveal herself at the end of her heist, which Emmy found amusing. Their discussion was quite fun, from an upset Elijah to a laughing Emmy that just shook the cash in front of Elijah's nose. Mumbling about how awful she could be, he counted the bills, happy to see there was just what the man promised. Around a thousand of euros. Elijah wasn't sure how he would convert that into pounds without attracting suspicions, but accepted it anyway. After their conversation, Emmy went straight to sleep, hoping her sore muscles would rest a little before going to the University.

She got up, trying to suppress another yawn, and exited her bedroom. Her flat being rather small, her bedroom directly overlooked the living room, where she saw Elijah sitting at the table, a bowl at his lips, talking to a stranger girl. She frowned : she was so exhausted from last night that she haven't noticed her.

“Ah, good morning Em' !” Elijah cheered, smiling at her while she sat next to him? He handed her the teapot, which she gladly accepted.

“Good morning.” the young girl said, smiling. She was about their age, with curly hair just as Emmy's and a cute face with blue eyes and a thin smile.

“Yo. I'm sorry, miss, but I'm afraid I haven't catch your name.” Emmy replied.

Elijah patted her shoulder. “Hey, tiger, calm down. She's my friend.”

“You invite people without telling me now ?” Emmy said, raising an eyebrow. The girl softly laughed.

“I'm sorry, miss. My name is Mya. I didn't mean to bother you, Elijah said we would be alone.”

Emmy eyed Elijah curiously. He just smiled with the most childish smile she had.

“Nah, it's not a problem don't worry. I'm just still in my sleepy head, that's all.”

Mya grinned at her, before getting up.

“Anyway, I should be going. Thanks for the night, Eli.”

She went to him, planting a light kiss on his cheek. She grabbed her coat in the meanwhile and headed to the door.

Elijah got up, opening it for her with a seductive smile. Emmy could hear him said something like “call you later”, before he closed the door and looked at her. He simply giggled at her baffled expression.

“What's wrong ?” he asked, joining her.

“Who's that girl ?”

“One of my little birds. Quite useful.”

Emmy frowned. 'Little bird' was the nickname Elijah used to talk about his spies. This was how he could get so much informations in so little time. No doubt she gave him all he needed to organize Scotland Yard's heist.

“And sice when are you this close to your birds ?” She asked, biting a bit of her toast.

“Since she can be your alibi for last night.And because she's quite cute. I may have been bored, staying here all night.” Elijah sat next to her, grabbing his cup of tea with a sly smile and snickering at her mouth agape.

“Elijah, what did you do?"

“Not your business, dude.”

“Please don't tell me you slept with her on my bed.”

“Naaaah, don't worry.”

“I hate you.”

“Love you too babe.”

Emmy sighed at her friend's attitude. Elijah just laughed at her expression, clearly loving to rile her up.

“And what about this waiter in the restaurant we ate at, the day you arrived ? You seemed to like him.” Emmy asked, pouting.

“I don't know.” Elijah replied, picking up the glass in the table.

“Man, he was so cute!”

“Yeah, but...we probably won't stay in London for long, you know. And I don't like commiting to a relationship."

“I know you don't. I've known you for a long time. But having a little fun is good too. He seemed to like you, you know.”

Elijah got up and embraced her from behind. “Don't worry about my love life now, baby.” He patted her hair, enjoying the silence in the room, before speaking again. "You haven't told me yet what happened last night."

Emmy hummed curiously, sipping her tea.

"After you escaped."

"Oh. Well...."

The morning was awfully quieted at Layton's house. Luke had stayed at his parents' home since the day they returned from Froenborg, leaving Layton and Desmond alone. Hershel still had to warn the boy about his brother's reappearence, though. He assumed he would do it soon, since he will help us on their investigation from now on.

However, their fail from last night was still in their minds. Vixen flew away with the blade, and they couldn't do anything against it. Desmond blamed himself for her escape, but the professor and the inspector understood very well his reaction. Who could have know Vixen could be this... unpredictable ? But now, they know that Fox was actually Vixen. This was quite a huge improvement : this means the Fox that existed fifteen years ago and the actual one weren't one and the same.

Layton discussed with Grosky about the possibility of a familial bound between them. This was the lead they were going to follow. Not that they had anything else...

Hershel put his elbows on the table in his kitchen and entertwined his fingers, deep in thought. Actually, they had another lead. Vixen was in Froenborg and in London in a short period. This means the thief should be someone that traveled between the two cities. And he could only think of one person. Emmy.

It was impossible for her to escape her hotel room, during the first heist. And even if she managed too, someone should have seen her. It couldn't be her. But now... Grosky will certainly ask her to come to the Yard to discuss the subject with him. Or he could ask her today, at the university.

Desmond entered the kitchen at this moment. “Why, hello there. Why the long face ?” he asked, sitting across the table to face him. “Bad night ?”

“Ah, good morning, Desmond. Well, this night was quite eventful, to say the least. No wonder we both are in this state.” Hershel replied, seeing the bags under his brother's eyes and his grumpy face.

“Will you go to the Yard today ?” Desmond asked, pouring the fresh brewed tea into a clean tea cup.

“After my daily classes, yes. I have a feeling Grosky will need us today.”

Desmond nodded. Hershel frowned as he saw the strange look in his eyes. “Is something wrong ?”

His face lit up from surprise for a second, before the older man's eyes fell into the professor's. “Ah, sorry, nothing important now.”

The room fell silent afterwards, the two brothers enjoying their breakfast in peace. After a moment, Hershel spoke up.

“Why don't you accompany me today ? I am sure the students would be delighted to see you.”

“Ah... I can't see why not.” Desmond replied, fidgeting with his spoon, his glaze lost into the remaining of tea inside of the cup.

Hershel smiled fondly at him.

“You did WHAT ?”

Emmy suddenly felt like a ten year old, being scolded by her older brother. She lowered her head a little, her cheeks puffed and her eyes looking away from an upset Elijah that stood right in front of her, his hands on his waist.

“It was the only way he would let me go.” she managed to say, toying with her hands. Her face was a fierce red colour.

Elijah let out a loud sigh as he ran a hand on his face. “Not only you went against my plans, but you entered in contact with your pursuer and you _kissed_ him. I swear Vixen will drive me mad one day.”

Emmy crossed her arms on her chest, now glaring at him. “It's not fun, to just leave a card and slip out. How can Vixen mark history if the only thing she left is a stupid piece of paper ?”

“For God's sake Em', can you imagine what could have happened if he caught you ? 'Marking history' by being the first Fox that was caught before any significant actions is not how you should do, you know.”

Emmy puffed and looked away from him. Her childish behaviour would almost make Elijah laugh, if he wasn't already upset.

“And god, at least try to kiss the good one. I thought you were into the other professor.” He said with a sly smile. He barely kept his laughter when she turned her head towards him, her face an even redder colour than before and her brown eyes wide with surprise.

“What are you saying ?!”

“You heard me well. Now that I think about, you still need to tell me all about your professor, by the way.”

“Hershel is not _my_ professor, he's my boss !”

“Oh, so you are on name basis, now ? Good to hear.”

“Oh, Elijah, please !” Emmy cried. She stood up, walking past him as she headed to the bathroom. “The professor and I are only colleagues, nothing else. Especially after...”

Emmy paused, her hand on the doorknob. Elijah frowned.

“After Targent.” she whispered, before entering the bathroom and closing the door after her.

Emmy put her hands on the sink, splashing her face with fresh water.

Oh, how Elijah can be stupid sometimes. She knew he just wanted to tease her, just as she always did with his own love affairs, but this time, the teasing was bittersweet. Emmy still didn't forgive herself for what happened in the Azran Sanctuary, even though the professor told her he hold nothing against her. She still remembered his eyes, full of hurt and surprise, when she showed her true colours. Or was it ?

She only joined Targent because this could allow her to contact, or at least find the Vipers. She didn't care about money, fame, or the legacy itself. All she wanted was informations. And those informations nearly cost thousand of lives, when she allowed Bronev into the sanctuary. How can she stand by the professor's side after that ?

She let the water drops fell from her face into the sink. Strangely enough, she didn't want to cry. She felt... Empty. On one hand, she had a lead that will allow her to avenge her father, but on the other hand, she had to betrayed people she actually began to care about, more than she knew at the moment.

Just this thought about the professor made her heart flutter. She splashed more water on her face, before grabbing a towel and scrubbing her face with it. It would have been exactly the same if Hershel was at Desmond's place last night. She would have acted just the same way. She wouldn't have enjoyed it, because it would have been just a way to escape. But then again... Would it be ?

Emmy threw the towel on the edge of the bathtub and grabbed her clothes, trying to erase this thought from her mind.

The clock stroke eight in the morning when Layton and Sycamore arrived at Gressenheller. The professor's classes began at nine, leaving them some time to prepare themselves.

“Emmy usually arrives at eight and a half.” Hershel said, placing his trunk on the side of his desk. “She should arrive shortly.”

Desmond looked at him with a funny face. “Emmy ? She still works there ?”

“Erm... Yes, she does. Is that a problem for you ?”

“Ha ! She worked for the most despicable organization on Earth and you still allow her by your side ? Hershel, you are too kind for this world.”

“Desmond, please...” Hershel began, but Desmond's audible sigh cut him off. Seeing his brother won't be able to hear him about her, he dropped the subject. Classes needed to be preapared after all.

Dean Delmona was happier than ever when Hershel told him about Desmond's presence today. He'd heard about the famous professor, and took the chance to hire him, which the oldest professor declined. He wasn't ready to teach, and maybe even to work again after the Azran issues. The dean nodded, but he assured him that he won't give up this easily.

When the two professors were about to leave Laytons office, the door creeked open.

“Morning, profess- Oh.”

Layton turned his head towards his assistant that just entered, ready to greet her. However, her focus was on Desmond, sitting on the couch with the professor's notes in hand.

“What are you doing here ?” Emmy asked, frowning.

“I should ask you the same question, miss Altava.” Desmond spat the last two words while glaring at her. “Or should I say miss Bronev ?”

“And what about you, _Descole_ ?” she angrily replied, closing the door behind her. She crossed her arms on her chest, her gaze still on him.

“Now, please-” Hershel said, but Desmond cut him off.

“Not your business.” he said, standing up. “But I do wonder what a Targent mole is still doing out there, and not rotting up in prison as your dear uncle is doing now.”

Emmy quickly walked to the professor's desk, grabbing her notebook she left on it. “I won't have any scolding from a man that kidnapped, manipulated and nearly killed so many people in three years.”

“Desmond, Emmy, please.”

They both looked at the other professor, anger clearly shown on their faces.

_If I let those two fight, my office will become a crime scene in a matter of minutes._ “Now is not the time to talk about this. If you please can work together just for today, this would be really appreciated.”

Desmond snarled. “Do not expect to me to act as if your lovely assitant is the most perfect creature on Earth.” Standing up, he walked to the lady, who took a step back. “Now that I think of it, where were you last night ?”

“Why are you asking ?”

“Because of all people, you were the only one in Froenborg and London during the Vixen's heist.” Desmond growled. Emmy's eyes got wide.

“What ?! Vixen ? ”

“Don't act as you weren't already aware !”

“I wasn't !”

“As a matter of fact, the object that was stolen was Azran, and you are still in London right after the theft. What kind of coincidences is that, hm ?”

Emmy backed away from the desk and the professors, throwing her hands in the air. “I won't hear you accusing me without any proof any longer. I didn't even know the thief was here last night, since I haven't done anything wrong. Now, if you'll excuse me, I actually have work to do, unlike you, since you clearly have enough time to harass people.”

Without letting them answer, she walked to the door at a quick pace, shutting it close harder than she wanted to.

The rest of the morning went rather fast. Emmy made sure to not came across the professor Sycamore, even though he was following Layton the whole time. Knowing she had exclusively reunions with the staff or whatsoever, she knew she wouldn't see them all day.

She checked her watch : it was nearly lunch time. She just had to leave her notes for the professor in his office, and she would be free until 1pm.

Emmy left the university building right after. She planned to buy something from the nearest shop to eat, when she spotted Elijah at the entrance. With a face full of surprise, she joined him, frowning when he smiled at her.

“Hey, pookie !” he cheered.

“What are you doing here ?” Emmy asked, looking around them. There were a lot of students around, most of them chatting and eating already, and no one seemed to care about the two of them.

Elijah lifted a bag in front of her face. She blinked a few time, and backed her face a little. It was a simple paper bag.

“Eating time !” her patner said, a wide grin on his face. “You seemed to be in a bad mood when you left. So I bought sushis just for you. You're free now, hm ?”

“Oh. Well, I suppose I am. Thanks !”

Emmy looked at the inside of the bag with a huge smile. He knew exactly how you make her happy.

“Okay then, this spot seems free,” Elijah said, pointing at a space under a tree nearby the entrance of the university. Emmy shrugged, and they went to sit under the tree for their lunch.

“Thank God, the morning is over.” Desmond sighed, leaning on his brother's desk. Hershel smiled, tipping his hat.

“Ah, it was indeed a busy morning, today. Did the dean asked you again about his proposition ?”

“He did. I feel like he won't give up, even though I decline it everytime.”

The professor laughed at his remark; “Well, he sure knows what he wants. Why don't we take a break now ? It's lunch time.”

“That will be really appreciable.”

The two professors left Layton's office to find something to eat. The university corridors were still quite busy, between students still studying and eating with friends and professors preparing their afternoon classes while talking to others. They arrived at the entrance soon enough and opened the doors.

“Hm. Hershel, isn't it your assistant, over there ?” Desmond said while they were going down the stairs, looking at the little Gressenheller's park. Layton turned his head, following his gaze.

There, he saw Emmy, with the company of a man he didn't know.

“I said, taste it, you stupid girl !”

“Elijah, I don't like these kind of sushis, I already told you !”

“What kind of stupid dude are you ? California rolls are the best !”

“It's not even japanese !”

“Taste it!”

Elijah quickly put the chopstick in front of her mouth, but Emmy grabbed his shoulders to pull herself free.

“Elijah, stop that !” She cried, even though she was laughing.

“She looks close to this guy. Did you know him ?”

Desmond's voice pulled Layton out of his thoughts, making him jump a little. He ajusted his hat. “Ah... No, I'm afraid I don't. He must be a friend of hers.”

“Quite a close friend, I guess. Maybe someone from Targent too.” Desmond said with a growling voice. Layton put a hand on his shoulders, trying to soothe him.

“Let's stop talking about Emmy's relatives. She seems... Quite happy with this man. Let's move on.”

He then started walking towards the street, and Desmond followed him. The latter shot a quick glance to Emmy, qho was stil fighting with this strange guy.

What is a hint of pain he heard in his brother's voice...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank my bby Kyoukalay for her help ~ So thank you ! :D


	11. Chapter XI : Interlude

“What time do you finish work today ?”

Emmy and Elijah were still enjoying their lunch time together, the young girl's bent legs close to her chest and her arms around it. The boy was lying on the fresh grass, his own legs under hers as he nibbled his waffle. Not much people were passing by at the moment, allowing them some time alone.

Elijah noticed the distant eyes of his friend. “Well ?” he asked. Emmy blinked a few times, visibly startled.

“Hu ? Oh, Erm.... We're monday so I'll end at six. Why ?”

He bit at his waffle, looking at her. “What's wrong ? You haven't said a word in like fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, sorry. I'm just a little tired, that's all.”

“Hm.”

Emmy's eyes fell on Elijah's blue ones, her head falling on her knees. A gentle breeze caressed her hair, soothing the hot atmosphere. Elijah's eyes traced the lines of her pouting face, nibbling his waffle.

She furrowed when she saw him still looking back at her. “What ?”

“I know it when there's something on your mind. Need to talk ?”

He handed her a part of his dessert, and she took it. Emmy wasn't a huge fan of waffles, but one from time to time was still great.

“Is it because your boss saw us earlier ?”

Emmy quickly turned her head towards him, looking at him with wide eyes. “Why do you say that ?”

Elijah sat up on the grass, supporting his body with his stretched arms behind him. “Because you are distant since the moment he quit the university. Something happened this morning ?”

“No, I haven't seen him a lot today. It's just....”

Emmy took a silent breath, enjoying the wind on her face. This was such a calm day, quite welcomed after last night's agitation. “I'm wondering what I'll do with him later.”

“When we will leave ?”

“Yes. I...”

She sighed. Elijah approached her, resting his hand on her knee.

“It wouldn't sound weird if you resign now. I mean, after Target's fall, this would make sense.”

“That's not that.”

He smiled at her. “You don't wanna quit, do you ?” Seeing Emmy's reddening face, he laughed. “I knew it.”

“Of course I don't ! I spent three years with him, it wouldn't feel right to leave !”

“But we still have a mission, dude. We'll need to leave as soon as Conti answered our call.”

Emmy sighed again, this time louder. “I know. I always knew.”

She stood up, checking her watch. “Classes will start soon. I should be going. Thanks for the meal, though.” she said, giving him the littlest smile he's ever seen from her.

She was running away again, but Elijah didn't bring the subject out again. “You're welcome, pookie. Now, go to work, I'll catch you up later.”

“You don't need to do this.”

“But I want to.”

He stood up, and put his hand on Emmy's head as he ruffled her hair. “See ya !”

Emmy whined at the contact, complaining about how he would mess up her hair, then watched him leave with this cool attitude of his. She spotted a lot of weird looks from the female students, though, which make her smile a little. This guy had his way to attract people.

She turned around to face the university doors, and returned to work.

The rest of the day went rather quickly.

Emmy hadn't had the occasion to speak to the professor since she still had meetings this afternoon, and to be honest, she wasn't really sure if she wanted to. The professor Sycamore must have followed him today, and after their fight from this morning, maybe it was better for them to just part ways for the moment.

But Emmy's mind couldn't focus on anything than her target. Elijah was right when he said they'll leave London as soon as Fabio Conti got in touch with them. Assuming the blade was already on the Black Market, this so called art collectioner won't let it pass without trying to get it. This was an Azran blade after all, the civilization the Vipers loved so much. Just thinking of them made Emmy's blood boil from anger, but managed to place a smile on her face all the afternoon.

She'll have the first part of her revenge as soon as Conti purchase the blade. It was a question of time now.

But there were still this shadow of a tophat over Emmy's heart. Elijah was right, it wouldn't sound strange if she resigned now, but deep inside she couldn't.

When Emmy entered the professor's office, it was nearly six. The professor was still in classes, as usual on Mondays. They usually didn't see each other on this day, the start of the week being quite busy.

She gathered her things and tied up the room a little before leaving.

Elijah spent the whole afternoon wandering in London, chatting with his little birds about the latest news. Still nothing about their art collectioner, but the young man wasn't impatient about it. They'll have him sooner of later.

However, his little birds gave him a lot of suspicious documents and informations about Conti's behaviour in the United Kingdom, which made him quite happy. Scotland Yard and Interpol only had suspicions about him, but Caimeen succeeded in having a lot of proofs against the collectioner. Assimilations on numerous black markets, embezzlement and also numerous big heists around the world. This was a really good day.

Elijah was now happily walking to the university. He bring his pocket watch in front of his eyes, and saw it was time for Emmy to leave. Despite being a young man, he loved theses ancient objects : surely his thief side that comes back every now and again.

Elijah ran a hand into his nice hair he just shaved. Hairdressers were quite good in London. He made himself a mental note for it.

He arrived near Gressenheller's gates when no one was around yet, and he leaned against the wall around the school to wait for his friend.

For the first time since he arrived in town, Elijah had been too lazy to wear something classy. He was just wearing blue pants and a white shirt, and still, he spotted some giggles and weird looks on him from numerous students. Why did he always attract young scholars, with their nose in books and such all the time ?

He sighed. Maybe he should call back the waiter from the restaurant, as Emmy advised him.

Just when the clock stroke six, a flow of students was leaving the university with a burst of laughs and chatting voices, contrasting to the calm atmosphere Elijah liked at the moment. He put his hand back into his pockets, leaning his feet on the wall as he eyed the students behind his sunglasses.

“May I help you, sir ?” he heard. His eyes fell on a little man, who looked at him in a gentle smile.

“Ah... No, not really. I'm just waiting for a friend. She told me she would finish at six, so here I am.”

“Oh, I'm sorry sir. I am the director, Mr. Delmona. I was just making sure everything was good. Sorry to have bothered you.”

“Eh, that's fine.” Elijah replied with a bright smile, stretching his hand towards the man. “I'm Elijah Cooper.”

The dean shook his hand. “It's very nice to meet you. Dare I ask who you are waiting for ?”

“Emmy. Emmy Altava. Oh, speaking of the devil, she's right there.”

As if on cue, they both saw Emmy leaving the university, with the professor Layton. Elijah remembered her saying she wouldn't see him a lot today, but she must have met him while leaving. He waved his hand in her direction, making her smile. They walked to him.

“Yo ! Nice day ?” Elijah asked.

“Quite good.” Emmy answered. She whined when he took her bag from her hand.

The professor looked at the strange man with curiosity. He was sure this was the one Emmy was with during lunch, but wouldn't dare to ask. It would sound strange if he did.

“Good afternoon, sir.” he just said, tipping his hat. Elijah gave him a bright smile.

“Good afternoon. Professor Layton, I assume, right ? Emmy told me a lot about you. Nice to meet you ! Oh, I'm Elijah Cooper, by the way.”

Emmy eyed him suspiciously. Why was he so friendly with the man he wanted her to leave as soon as possible ? Really, this guy could be a real enigma when he wanted to. Elijah just smirked at her.

The young man threw Emmy's bag on his shoulder, his other hand still in his pocket. “I see you have a pretty good group around ya, Em. Nice, nice.” She just shrugged.

“Hershel,” Delmona said. “Where is the professor Sycamore ? I thought he was with you all the day.”

“He was. He must be here shortly.” The professor replied.

“Well, I guess we should be going now.” Elijah said, putting his hand on Emmy's shoulder. “I'm sure you want some rest now, don't you ?”

“Oh. Well, yes, that should be great.” She answered flinching at the contact. Elijah wasn't the type of man showing this must affection in front of people, even for her. What was he thinking ?

They bid the professor and the dean goodbye, before they start to leave. Just when they did, all of them heard the rumbling of a car passing by, before it stopped his path in front of them. A police car.

Emmy felt Elijah's hand grabbing her shoulder harder. When she looked up, she saw he was frowning.

That wasn't planned.

Chef Carmichael got out of the passenger's seat, following by Inspector Grosky as well as an officer. They went toward the small group, and stopped in front of Emmy and Elijah.

Layton frowned, crossing his arm on his chest. Just in time, Desmond arrived, but couldn't say anything before the chief's voice was heard.

“Are you miss Emmy Altava by any chance ?” he asked. Elijah's grip on Emmy went harder, but Emmy nodded. “I'll ask you to follow me, then.”

“And why is that ?” Elijah said. Emmy noticed his hard attempt to hide his anger behind his calm tone.

“Nothing of your concern, sir, so I'll ask you to leave us.”

“Not his, but it's mine.” Emmy replied, lifting her head so her eyes met the chief's. Layton and Desmond approached them, following by the Dean. A certain amount of students gathered around Gressenheller entrance, wondering what was happening.

Carmichael sighed in frustration, before reaching out to Emmy. “You are suspected of last night's theft inside Scotland Yard. We have some questions to ask you about last night, young lady. Now please, we don't want to make a scene in public, don't we ?”

“And what kind of questions ?” Elijah ask, his grip on Emmy tightening as he held her closer. The Chief snarled.

“It is once again nothing of your concern. Now let her go, before I haul you too. Miss...”

He pointed the vehicle behind her. Elijah opened his mouth to say something, but Emmy cut him off when she freed herself from his arm. She turned towards him with a stern face.

“Please, Eli, calm down.”

“You ask me to calm down ?! How am I supposed to do it ? You haven't done anything wrong !”

She smiled. What a comedian. It was clear he hadn't planned that the police would arrest her in public like this, but she knew he has something, or rather someone, to help them.

“I know I haven't.” She turned around to face the Chief, who glared at her. “I've done nothing wrong, Inspector. But since you have so much time to loose...”

Emmy walked to him, and entered the car.

“He hadn't done anything, for god's sake !” Elijah shouted. He made his way to the car, but the professor's hands on his shoulders stopped him.

“Please, mister Cooper-”

“Get off me ! Why aren't you doing anything ?! Isn't she your assistant ?”

“This is not the subject-”

“Of course it is !” he yelled again, in Inspector Grosky's direction. “We spent the end of the afternoon and the evening together yesterday, and I stayed with her all night too, for fuck's sake !”

The mere words that came out of Elijah's mouth made his heart ache. He 'stayed with her all night'...?

Grosky approached them while the car was driving away under Elijah's screams.

“We just want her to answer some questions, sir. If she really hadn't done anything wrong then-”

“Of course she hadn't !”

“...Then we'll free her right away. Now please, there are students around, and I don't want to arrest you for disorderly public.”

Elijah stopped to struggle in the professor's arms, his teeth still gritted and his eyebrows furrowed. Layton kept his hands on his shoulders, just in case.

“Would you mind answering my questions, sir ? You as well, Layton.”

The professor nodded, his eyes still on the police car that turned at the end of the alley.

This ordeal was beginning to be quite harsh.


	12. Chapter XII : Alibi and Departures

The interrogation room was cold, and empty. Only a plain table, with two chairs, including the one Emmy's was sitting on. She was tapping her foot rather fast on the icy floor, hoping the chief inspector would join her soon. She was beginning to be rather impatient right now : he just threw her on this room, and slammed the door without saying anything else. From someone that just 'wanted answers', it felt like he just condemned her right away !

...Not that he would be wrong, though. A smile crossed her face, but it quickly faded when she realized they might be watching her over the tinted glass in front of her. To say she finds it amusing, to be arrested, would be childish and stupid, but she was actually enjoying her time now. She just wanted one thing : to see their faces when they'll realize they can't link her to any thefts she did commit. Elijah's speciality was to find alibis and excuses after all, and he has became a master of it.

The door opened, squeaking. Emmy's head turned to the source of the noice, and saw the chief Inspector Carmichael, walking into the room with a frowned expression. He sat in front of her without saying anything, and crossed his arms on his chest, leaning on the backseat and crossing his legs.

“You do know why you're here, right ?” He said after a moment.

“I assume you talked about yesterday's theft.” Emmy replied, not moving from her position. Her hands were joined on the table, her foot still beating the floor.

“That is correct. So let's start, then. Where were you last night ?”

“I was at home. I usually don't go outside on Sundays. The week can be quite tough so I just rest on these days.”

“Can someone confirm it ?”

“Yes. I was with Elijah the whole time.” she said. It took her all her strength not to laugh at the chief inspector's face.

He leaned his arms on the table, lowering his face as he put his head on his hands. “Can you tell me a little more about this Elijah, if you don't mind ?”

“He's a childhood friend. I've known him since I was about ten. We lost contact long time ago but he returned to London lately, so I offered him a place to stay.”

“You seem to be really close to each other.”

“We are.” she said, grinning.

If he was there, he'd told her not to be too bold with policemen. But he was not there, and she wanted some fun.

“Why do you ask ?” Emmy continued. Carmichael didn't move an inch, and just stared at her with a plain expression.

The chief inspector said nothing for a moment, making Emmy's smile disappear rather quickly, remplaced by a frown.

“Do you really think an alibi from your friend would be good enough for us ?”

Emmy froze. “What do you mean ?” She managed to say without sounding too weak.

“It's rather easy to ask a friend to lie to protect you, don't you think ?”

“Are you insinuating I'm lying ?”

He stood up, walking away from her. None of them talked for a certain time that felt like hours for her, the only noise being Emmy's foot against the floor. He just walked from a wall to another of the room, not looking at her.

“First of all, you were at Froenborg during the first Fox's heist. Grosky assumed you were innocent because you couldn't move from your room at the hotel.”

He put his hand under his chin while glaring at her. His eyes pierced her, but she didn't move.

“And now, you are in London, where the second heist has been. Luckily for you, you have a really good 'friend' that gave you a good alibi. Don't you find it strange, miss Altava ?”

Emmy leaned on her chair, making the noise from her foot stop. They were both silent, looking at each other with stern faces.

_Think, Altava._

Her mind was running. From all of the policemen around here, she would never have guessed Carmichael would be the one to interrogate her. She wasn't really prepared to deal with such a hard mind like his. But still, she kept a placid facade, tilting her head a little on the side.

“It's not strange. It's truth. I've been locked in my hotel room back in Froenborg, and I've been at home last night with Elijah. What can be wrong with this ?”

Suddenly, an idea flashed in her mind. Her eyes lighted up at the thought, and she smiled.

_Mya. Oh, Elijah, what a sly man you are._

Carmichael flinched when she saw her looking at him with such a sly smile and glowing eyes. She crossed her hands, her elbows on the table. The noise on the floor started again.

“But do tell me, Chief Inspector...” she purred the two last words, and breathed a laugh at his face. “Who told you Elijah was the only one that saw me, last night ?”

Dean Delmona and the professors had a tough time to calm down every student in the university. Of course, the Chief Inspector himself arresting someone on school grounds wasn't a common thing, especially when this someone was the assistant of one of the most famous professors in campus. Students and colleagues tried to question him, but Layton avoided it all by leaving with the Inspector and Elijah, letting his brother help the dean in this mess.

Once they've gotten far enough from all the noises, the Inspector guided them on a near bench. Elijah let himself fall on it, sighing.

“First of all, boy, would you mind telling us who you are ?” Grosky started.

The young man ran his hand on his face before answering. “My name is Elijah Cooper. Emmy and I are childhood friends.”

“From childhood, uh ? Have you known each other from Targent ?”

“No, we met before she joined.”

Hershel frowned. “You seem to be aware of Emmy's connexion to this organization. May I ask how ?”

Elijah' eyed him curiously, raising an eyebrow. “Of course I do, why wouldn't I ? I've known her for long enough to know this. And before you ask, no, I haven't join it, she went by her own.”

“What did you do after her departure ?” Grosky asked.

“Helped my father with his business. He's an investor. Finds a good business, buys it and sells it again and again. I'm still helping him, that's why I'm in London these days.”

“Where were you last night ?” Grosky asked. Elijah stood up, smoothing his shirt in his chest.

“At Emmy's home, as I told you. That's why I know she's not the girl you are looking for. Maybe you should spend more energy into arresting real criminals rather than her.”

Grosky glared at him. This young man had an arrogant side he wasn't sure he liked. Looking at the professor, he assumed he was thinking the same, since he had put a hand under his chin, seemingly deep in thought.

The blue eyed man pointed at the street behind him. “Care for a walk ? I can show you her house. You'll understand she spent her night in there when we'll get there.”

Grosky and Layton looked at each other, searching for the other's approuval, before nodding.

Now that Hershel was thinking about it, he has never come at Emmy's flat. She gave him her adress some time ago in case of emergency, but he never had the occasion to come. He felt his heart ache when he noticed that this boy has actually spent the night in her house. He introduced himself as her childhood 'friend', hasn't he...?

Layton ajusted his hat, hoping this gesture would calm his fast beating heart. What Emmy is doing with her life was not his business. So why did this hurt so much ?

They arrived at Emmy's flat soon after their conversation. Pulling out a set of keys, Elijah opened the front door, and they entered the building.

“Emmy gave me a spare key when I arrived in London. Since she's usually staying late with you, professor, she guessed it was better for me to have it, because I actually don't like to spend the night sitting in front of a locked door.” He said while climbing the stairs.

Emmy's apartment was on the second floor. It was quite an ancient building, with only two flats on one floor, and hers was on the right. Elijah quickly unlocked the door and they entered.

Emmy's floor was actually quite small : there was a small entrance that leaded into a little kitchen, which was opening to a larger livingroom. There was just enough space for a couch, a little television and a small table, but it still had space to move around. On one of the corners, a corridor leaded to what Hershel supposed to be Emmy's bedroom and the bathroom and the end of it. It all seem quite cosy, with all the pictures and such on the walls. He even spotted some from their previous adventures.

Elijah made his way to the kitchen, opening the fridge. “Wanna drink something ?”

Grosky and Layton politely declined, and he just took a can of soda for himself. He gestured them to sit on the couch, while he sat at the edge of the table in front of them.

“So, when I told you about how you'll understand Emmy has done nothing wrong. I assume the theft occurred at Scotland Yard, right ? You see, we're too far away from there, actually.”

He pointed at the door. “Have you seen the door in front of the apartment ? Emmy's neighbour lives in there. She saw us last night.”

He opened the can, drinking its content. At the moment, Hershel could see why Emmy was possibly fond of this man : he clearly look quite handsome.

He looked away from him. He should not be thinking about this.

“Is she at home ?” Grosky said. Elijah shrugged.

“Maybe.”

He got up from the table and put his now empty can on the table. Going outside, he knocked on the door in front of Emmy's flat, waiting for a response. He gestured the two man to come.

After a moment, the door opened on an old lady. She was rather small, his hair into a loose bun and with thin glasses on her wrinkled face.

“Oh, hello gentlemen. How may I help you ?” she said, smiling. Hershel returned her smile with a tip of his hat.

“Hello ma'am.” Grosky said, showing her his police card. “Inspector Grosky of Scotland Yard. Can I talk to you for a moment ?”

The professor took a look besides him : Elijah wasn't there anymore. He must have come back in Emmy's apartment.

“Of course. What's the matter, inspector ?” The lady answered, opening her door so they can enter.

Grosky sat on her little couch. “It's about your neighbour, miss Altava.”

“Oh, this young girl ! Did something happened to her ?” The lady offered Layton some tea, which he gladly accepted. A gentlema must keep his manners after all, and the smell of tea was amazing.

“Actually, she's the principal suspect of Scotland Yard's robbery from last night. Have you seen her yesterday ?”

The lady's eyes widened. “What ? Emmy ? She's the nicest girl I've ever seen, Inspector, it cannot be her. She couldn't hurt a fly.” She sipped her tea with a frown on her face. “I've seen her, yes. That is why I know she could not have done it.”

Grosky looked at the professor, frowning. “Are you sure about it, ma'am ?” he said, seeing Layton wasn't going to say anything.

“Oh, yes, I am. As I told you, inspector, I have seen her last night. It was around eleven, maybe later ? My show just began at the moment.”

Hershel's heart felt lighter at the second. Emmy hasn't done it.

“Can you tell us how you met last night ?” he asked. He needed to know if this was plausible.

The old lady smiled. “Her boyfriend came to my house last night. He had a problem with the kitchen sink, and asked for my husband's help, who is a retired plumber. We both came to her house to help, and I saw her sleeping on the couch.”

“Her boyfriend ?” Grosky said.

“Yes, a handsome young man ! I've never seen him before, I really am happy she met someone. She seemed always busy with work ! Every time I saw her, she was either coming to work, or returning home late. They must have met at the university she works at. They actually look lovely together !”

Hershel assumed she was refering to Elijah. So they really were...

Grosky cut him in his thoughts. “What happened after that ?”

“Oh, my husband tried to fix the sink. It was quite noisy, so his boyfriend took her away and he brought her into her bed. A lovely young man, isn't he ?”

“Are you sure it was her ?” the inspector said.

“As sure as I could be ! Although she was asleep, I couldn't mistake her curly hair.”

Grosky nodded, sighing inwardly. They had two witnesses of Emmy's innocence. Which meant they just lost their only lead...

Emmy left Scotland Yard barely an hour later. Carmichael was furious when he saw her smile at him the moment she walked past the doors. He felt like she was actually enjoying herself when she played with him. He wondered why he hadn't locked her for her affiliation with Targent at the first place.

Elijah stood up from the bench he was sitting on when Emmy approached him. After she made sure she was far enough, she smiled playfully at him.

“Elijah Cooper, you are a sly man. Good job.”

He clapped her back with his hand. “Who do you think I am. I always have a backup plan.”

“Of course you do.”

“Well, now that you're free, let's go somewhere to eat. I'm starving.” He whined, patting his belly.

Emmy giggled at his goofy attitude, but she had to admit that she was indeed hungry too. It felt as if she spent too much time in police headquarters for so little time. Such a cold, blank and small place was definitely something she liked. Thank god she had Elijah by her side : such a bright mind that thinks about every possibility was a real asset to Caimeen.

…However, there was something Elijah hadn't planned : rumours.

Since the Chief Inspector himself had arrested Emmy in front of all the university, it was something inevitable. Even though she was prouved innocent, gossips spread way too fast for Emmy's tastes. It wasn't long until she could hear some, and catch dark glares in her direction.

She had tried to calm the ones that talked trash about her, but it was clearly useless. Therefore, she just began coming to work, ignoring the whispers from students and even from her colleagues, and went back home directly after.

Elijah was beginning to worry about her well being several days later, when she came home clearly drained. He urged her to take some days off, but she declined, saying it would gave the gossips some credits.

But as time passed, the rumours began to focus on the professor, most of them assuming she was playing with him just so she could have another alibi if something went wrong. And this was something Emmy wanted to avoid at all cost. People could harass her as long as they wanted, but she couldn't stand the idea of the professor experiencing this.

After long days of constant aggressive glares and whispers, Emmy decided it may be the time to follow Elijah's idea.

She was waiting for the professor in his office after work, a letter in hand. She stood near the window, looking at the garden Luke loved to play in with the numerous dogs and cats around the campus. Despite her fast beating heart, she managed to keep a neutral expression on her face. This time, her father's mask around her left hand she hid in her pocket did not help her to calm down.

The door opened some time after the clock stroke six and a half. The professor greeted her with his signature tip of his hat and a warm smile. Emmy didn't give it back.

“Is something wrong, my dear ?” he said.

_'My dear'_... Always the gentleman. He must have heard the rumours about her, so why did he ask ?

Emmy sighed. “Tough days.”

Layton closed the door behind him, before looking at her. “I... am sorry to hear this. I assure you I tried to talk to the dean about the fake rumours, but-”

“Professor, you know better than anyone that nobody can stop spreading this gossips, not even the dean or the police.” Randall's fake death and Hershel's departure from Stansbury was already a good example of this mess.

Hershel grabbed the brim of his hat. “It doens't mean we should allow this. You were proven innocent, so these speculations must stop immediately.”

Emmy crossed her arms on her chest, making sure her father's mask stayed in her pocket, and leaned on the wall, turning her head away from him. She took a deep breath.

Hershel approached her near the window. “My dear, you know it will be fine if you take some days off for a moment, just so that these rumours stop. I assume you need some rest.”

“Actually,” she said, looking at him. Her stare made him shiver : it wasn't the same as he was used to : it was blank. The smile he had learned to appreciate long gone. She handed him the letter. “I was already planning to leave.”

Hershel took the letter, smiling. “Of course. Take as much time as you need.”

“To leave permanently, I mean.”

His smile dropped. “You... You're resigning ?”

“I have to.” He noticed sorrow in her eyes, but she quickly hid it away. “A lot happened in too little time, professor. The Azran legacy, Targent, Grosky's and Carmichael's arrestations, these rumours...”

She sighed again, running a hand into her curly hair. “The latter may be the last thing I can bear. I'm really sorry professor, but I don't want you to suffer about this.”

Hershel's eyes went from Emmy's letter to her. Of course, Emmy leaving was an option completely plausible, but he never thought she would actually do it. He hoped so, at least.

“Emmy, I assure you I'm not giving credits to any of those remarks about yourself. “ He gave her his hand, frowning. “You don't need to leave.”

Emmy quickly backed away, avoiding his gaze. “Of course I need to leave. If I stay with you, I-”

Her lips were trembling, her heart beating fast. She tried to look at him. This was the most painful look he had ever seen from her. “... I would only bother you.” She ended in a whisper.

The room fell silent. It took all of the professor's energy not to grab her arm so she couldn't go now. He was feeling like they needed to talk. He needed to soothe her, to tell her everything was okay.

He didn't want her to leave.

“Listen, my dear.” he said in a soft voice. “You will never bother me. On the contrary, your presence has been helpful, and I know it will always be. You don't need to leave, these rumours will stop by themselves, and-”

“Professor.”

He looked at her : her eyes were glowing with tears.

Biting her lip to avoid crying, Emmy sighed one last time. “Please, professor, don't try to stop me. You know it, deep inside you, that this can't be.”

Her last words that left her lips were barely audible. The sound of the wind between the leaves outside was the only noise that could be heard.

_This can't be. This would never be._

Emmy turned around, and headed to the door. She grabbed the doorknob before the professor could say anything.

“I'm sorry, professor. Goodbye.”

On this, she opened the door, and left the office.

Emmy's footsteps went fast into Gressenheller corridors, avoiding each person she crossed ways with without a word nor a look.

_This would never be._

Tears threatened to fall. She didn't allow them to. She bit her lip harder, and began to feel blood in her mouth. She kept walking.

_I would only bother him._

She passed the university's doors quickly, ignoring the dean as she walked past him. Heading to where she parked her motorbike, and quickly got it, and drove away.

_I can't be with him anymore._

Elijah was running around Emmy's flat, packing all the necessary. On the table stood a note he just received. 'Blade sold. Rome.' Conti purchased the blade.

The young man felt besides himself with joy at the moment, jumping around the apartment like a little child. How happy Emmy will be when he will tell her the news !

He was singing a rather cute melody, shoving clothes in a bag and food in another when the door opened. Elijah lifted his head to greet Emmy, bottles of water in hand. “Yo, pookie ! Hope you had a nice day, because I had ! You won't believe me, really-”

He stopped talking when his eyes met hers. Her face was whiter than usual, her eyes glowing and her lips trembling. He spotted a little bruise on her bottom lip. She looked absolutely exhausted.

“What's wrong ?” He said in a soft voice, fearing she might shutter at any moment. Emmy let her bag fall on the floor. “What happened ?”

Elijah put the bottles on the kitchen island, and made his way to her. When he was halfway there, he heard a hiccup from his friend. Looking at her eyes, he saw a flow of tears running down her cheeks. She stuttered something he didn't understand due to her hiccups, before breaking down.

Elijah hugged her close, closing the door with his foot.

“Hey, there, there, please. Calm down...”

He guided her to the couch where he sat her down, patting her back and caressing her hair. Her cries continued, with Emmy trying to talk to Elijah, but he kept rocking her.

“I... I left him-” she breathe between two hiccups, crying onto his shoulder. He hugged her closer.

She resigned. Why didn't she tell him ? He should have been there to help her with this !

For now, he just kept her close, hoping she would calm down. Seeing his friend in this state broke his heart in tiny pieces.

“There, pookie. That's okay. It's going to be fine, I promise.”

She was grabbing his shirt, hiding her face in his shoulder and trying to suppress her hiccups. Her cries and Elijah's whispers continued for a while, neither of them moving from the couch.

“Why is this happening ?” Emmy cried, lifting her head so she could look at him. He dried her cheek with his thumb. “Why can't I be happy, for once ?”

Elijah kissed her forehead, pulling her close. “You will, pookie.”

“How ? I had to left the professor, I had to leave him, I'm not allowed around him anymore, I-” Her cries started again, harder.

“Shh. Hold on, Em. Calm down.”

Her grip loosened on his shirt, and she let her tears flow again on her damp cheeks, while Elijah was patting her back, his head on hers with a stern face.

He wasn't understanding it all, but whoever put her in this state would suffer the consequences shortly.


	13. Chapter XIII : Back to basics

_Chapter XIII : Back to basics_

Emmy had fallen asleep on the couch for nearly ten minutes before Elijah stood up. Carefully putting her head on a pillow, covering her with a nearby cover, he moved into her bedroom and started packing her clothes.

While he was folding her shirts and shoving them on her luggage, he couldn' t help but feel angry. A

Angry that he hadn't done anything to help her before, when the rumours started to spread around the University.

Elijah always hated seeing Emmy cry. It always broke something in him that angers him much more than he could imagine every time. Seeing her in such a desperate state, knowing his friend would never cried easily, just made his blood boil into his veins. Whoever started to gossip about her will regret it shortly.

But first, they needed to go away from London. Away from Gressenheller, from Scotland Yard and everything that could hurt her.

Elijah would find someone to gather informations in there for him, and come back later to deal with this mess. For the moment, he zipped Emmy's bag and walked out of her bedroom.

They took the first fly for Denmark the next morning. Elijah suggested they shouldn't fly directly into Italia, since it could link them to Conti, and he also wanted to go in Caimeen before going. Emmy accepted, happy to come back into the island after so long.

The island hasn't changed a bit since her last visit. The little fishing village was as busy as usual, as the Hide Out. Most of the thieves in were away at the time, except from Connor and Shawn. The later nearly crushed Emmy and Elijah to death into a hug when he saw them, only for Connor to save them by bumping his friend.

Unfortunately, they couldn't stay in the island for long, since they planned to join Italia in the night. There were still a few hours for them to rest a little before leaving, and Emmy needed to see someone before their departure.

She went further into the forest, a bunch of yellow roses in hands. Wind gently blew across the trees, shuffling the leaves as sunlight creeped in between. The small path she walked on leaded on a clearing at the base of the mountain. A bed of flowers surrounded a tree in the middle, next to which was a sculpted rock. Emmy breathed slowly before sitting in front of it.

In Caimeen, graves didn't wear names. The ones buried in were resting in peace, after living with the Fox's laws they choose to follow. One of them being to accept to live in shadows, acting in the darkness, and die in silence. With this, no one apart from Caimeen would link them to the Fox's family, and no one would talk dirt on their memory. The deads would only be reminded by the living family. And Emmy would never forget this one.

She put the flowers in front of the grave without saying anything. The wind had calmed down, as if to let her enjoy silence in this particular place. She sat in front of the grave.

“Long time no see, eh...” she softly said. Blades of grass swiftly trembled around her.

She crossed her legs, staring at the plain rock.

“I wish I could have come sooner. I'm sorry.” Emmy sighed. “Life hasn't been the easiest, these days. Targent, Scotland Yard and all... You must know what I'm talking about.”

She lifted her head to the tree above her : the leaves moved by the gentle breeze that came back.

“Sometimes I wish I had never left. Therefore I could have been with you all, until the end.”

“Yep, but you would have missed a hella lot of things, dude.”

Emmy jumped at the sudden voice behind her. Turning around, she saw Elijah.

“Gosh, Elijah, you scared me.”

“Sorry.” He said, sitting next to her. “It's been a while since I last visited her.”

“How long ?”

“Maybe a few months.”

“Ha. Still shorter than me.” Emmy sighed. “I should have come sooner.”

“You couldn't at the time.” Elijah said, pulling her into his embrace.

“Hm.”

They stayed in silence for a while, enjoying the calm breeze around us.

“Can you call an engraver here ?” Emmy suddenly said, never looking away from the grave. Elijah looked at her curiously.

“Why ?”

“I don't want this grave to be empty.” she softly answered, caressing the roses with the tip of her fingers.

“What about the special rules from there ? You know, 'die in silence, rest in peace'... ?”

She shrugged. “She hasn't done anything wrong, from what I know. And we were her only family. She deserves a nice place to rest, and to be remembered.”

She turned her head to Elijah, smiling. “and sometimes, rules are made to be broken.”

Emmy stood up, crossing her fingers on her back. Elijah followed her.

“Do you remember what she always said ?” she asked after a while. Elijah shook his head. “Well, she used to say this when I arrived here. 'You'll mark history, my dear.'”

“Such a strong esteem of a brat like you.” Elijah replied with a smirk.

“Oh, shut it.” Emmy said, gently bumping his arm. “What I meant is, she may be right.”

She turned towards the grave, with a thin smile on her face. “We'll definitely mark history.”

“What do you mean, 'we' ?”

Emmy lifted her fist to eye level, grinning at him. “Yes, 'we'.”

Elijah's furrowed. She laughed, lowering her fist. “What's so weird in this ?”

“Caimeen is for you. Not me or anyone else.”

Emmy's head fell lightly on her side, her hair blowing from the wind.

“Time to change history, Eli. To break the rules.” Her gaze fell on the roses. “I don't want the persons that helped my father and I to just vanish after their departure. I want them to be remembered, to be rewarded. You of all people deserve to be known, because Fox would never have been the one he is without your help.”

Her eyes met his. Chocolat ones with ocean ones. She lifted her fist again.

Elijah smiled. “You're really gonna change a system that exist since centuries ?”

“Hey, I can be the Vixen I wanna be.” Emmy said, giggling. He scoffed at her, smirking.

He lifted his fist to bump hers. “Yes, you can.”

“So, you're gonna call an engraver ?”

“Yep. I think there's a fisherman that knows how to do it. I'll ask him.”

“Nice.”

Emmy turned towards the grave, pulling out her notebook and pen. She scribbled in it, before tearing the paper out. Elijah handed her a rock, so she could put it on the note and it won't go away.

“Okay, time to go then !”

Emmy swiftly turned around and walked away, leaving Elijah alone in front of the grave. He put his hands on his pockets, smiling, before joining her. Orange roses trembled from the breeze, its petals reflecting the light on Emmy's note.

_'Thank you for everything, Mami.'_

The night had been rough for Layton. The image of his desperate assistant running out of his office plagued his mind since the last evening. He was now sitting at the kitchen table, sipping his tea in silence.

He discussed the problem with the dean right after Emmy left, who confirmed she had resigned in the morning. The pressure of all those rumours and of what happened back in Froenborg got her eventually. Hershel regretted he hadn't seen this sooner, he might have helped her out of this mess if he had. Now, she wasn't there anymore, and he had no idea where she could be.

However, the professor had a bad feeling about this : Vixen's case, the heist at Froenborg and Scotland Yard's headquarters... and the possible link with Emmy. She had an alibi for these two robberies, but something wasn't right for him. He'd need to investigate this, just to be sure.

But first, he needed to go to the University. It wouldn't be an easy task now that his assistant left, but surely Desmond would help him out.

Just as he thought of him, his brother entered the kitchen.

“Good morning, Hershel.” he said, sitting in front of his brother.

“Good morning, Desmond. How was your night ?”

“Quite nice, thank you. Yours ?”

Hershel took a deep breath. “Agitated.”

“Hm.”

The room fell silent, while Desmond poured tea into his cup, lifting it to his lips.

“Did she tell you anything before leaving ?” he asked.

“Emmy told me she wasn't feeling well as my assistant, after what happened with Targent and the police. I can't really blame her.” Hershel answered, looking through the window. Cars were passing by, which was common at this hour. They both would head to the university soon, after all.

Desmond crossed his arms and leaned on his chair. “Scotland Yard doesn't have anything against her anyway.” He ajusted his glasses. “Maybe she just needed a reason to leave.”

Hershel sighed. “I wonder where she is.”

“And I wonder why she left right after Scotland Yard's suspicions on her. Don't you think this sounds odd ?”

Desmond finished his cup, putting in on the table next to Hershel's empty one. The other professor looked up to him, frowning.

“Perhaps Emmy wanted some peace. It would be understandable.”

“Hm. I still believe we should find informations about her. I wonder if she left because Targent called her. If she's not linked to Vixen's thefts, then it can be this.” Desmond growled. “We can't let this despicable organization move on.”

“... You're right. We can go to Scotland Yard's archives after school. Let's hope Inspector Grosky would give us access to it.”

Hershel stood up, gathered the cups, and put them in the sink. Desmond left to get ready, leaving him alone with the dishes. He sighed again.

Thankfully, Grosky allowed them to tke a look at Emmy's file. He told them this kind of files weren't stocked in the archives room, but in a more private another, so what they could find in this room should not be told. The two professors accepted.

Since they didn't need Grosky's help with this, he quickly excused himself and returned to work, asking them to meet him when they'd be finished.

Hershel started to read Emmy's file. It wasn't the fullest one. Her ties with Targent hadn't been added, thanks to the inspector's help. It contained the most important informations about her. “Emmeline Altava, born in April 3rd, 1944. Her documents mentionned the death of her mother soon after her child's birth. And no informations about her biological father...” He said, wonder in tune.

Desmond took a paper from the file. “The file does include adoptions reports. Look.” He pointed at the name written on the paper. “Connor Cooper... I've heard this name before.”

“Yes.” Layton said. “We heard it from Emmy's friend, Elijah. He must be his son.”

“So Emmy and Elijah are technically siblings...”

Hershel felt a huge weight leave his shoulders. He tried to forget this feeling, but he clearly was relieved. Why, though...?

“From what I see, there is nothing related to Bronev in any way.” Desmond said. “I wonder how they met.”

“I assumed she joined Targent because of him. The question is, why did she accepted to work for him in the first place...”

“As much as I'd love to know more about your beloved assistant,” Desmon started, sarcasm in his voice. “I don't know how this could help us with the Vixen's case. Are you still suspecting her ?”

“I am not sure. I guess we can investigte all possibilities. Perhaps we should talk to Bronev about this.”

“Hm. It's absolutely not because you want to know more about her, right ?” Desmond said, smirking. He gently slapped his brother's shoulder beforehe took the file from him. “I'll see if I can find something on this.”

“What do you-”

“Were you assuming I'll follow you to see him ? Please, Hershel.” His brother said, rolling his eyes. He pulled him out of the room. “Let's meet at home tonight. We will brainstorm everything we learnt at the time. Now off you go.”

Layton didn't have time to answer, before his brother shut the door behind him. It was obvious he wouldn't follow him to the jail, he should have thought about it sooner.

They haven't talked about what happened during their last trip, as if it was a forbidden subject between them. Maybe it was, Hershel wondered. This would remind his brother a lot of hurting memories, which he woud avoid pretty much. Desmond's personnality was much easier to handle than Descole's. Hershel was too happy to see his brother alright, and that's all that mattered. 'Brother'... It still felt a little bit odd to say this.

He left the police station. The jail wasn't far from London. He'd arrived there in about thirty minutes by car. Pulling out his keys from his pocket, he started his car, and drove off.


	14. Chapter XIV : Target n°1 : Conti

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S BEEN A WHILE HU ?????

_Chapter XIV : Target n°1 : Conti_

“Fabio Conti. 33. No partner nor children known. From our sources, he's working for the Vipers for about twenty years now. His nickname is 'Cobra'.”

“What does he do ?”

“Searching for Azran artifacts on the Black Market, and sells them for high prices. He may have dealt with Targent in the past. I believe the Vipers actually don't care about the Azran, but only for the wealth they can provide.”

“Ha. And they can kill people just for that.”

“I don't know what your father did, Vix, but the Vipers are known to be quite... harsh with people that cross their way.”

“I think I know that, thank you.”

“Anyway, he purchased the blade from the market a few days ago, which means he still has it. Conti usually waits before selling his treasures again. I don't know why. You'll just have to meet him in his office tonight, wait keep him in until the police arrives. Then, you leave, and police arrests him with all we have against him at the moment.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Good. Let's get started.”

The professor arrived at the jail about fifteen minutes after the left Scotland Yard. The air was chill, clouds covering the late afternoon sky with their pale cotton color. He ajusted his jacket, close his car's door, and went in.

He's never gone into a jail before. The atmosphere around wasn't the greatest, as he assumed. Everything was quite silent, except for some bangs on the cell bars from time to time, shouts of prison guards and the constant clapping of water on the wall, just beneath the leaking pipe that crossed the corridor where Layton was walking. The guard he met at the entrance guided him into the visiting room.

“Usually, visit time is over now. But, since Inspector Grosky hadset up this meeting....” he said, showing him the door. “Please, stay here until we bring mister Bronev there.”

“Thank you, officer.” Hershel answered by tiping his hat.

On this, the guard left, leaving the professor alone. The room was quite empty, apart from a simple table and two chairs. The walls were in dark grey, with a unique spotlights in the middle of the ceiling. The professor sat on one of the chairs, just behind the windowed wall, and waited.

He'd see Bronev for the first time since the awakening of the Azran legacy. It has happened in barely two weeks, but it felt like yesterday in his mind. He could still see these golems and lasers when he closed his eyes sometimes, plaguing the Earth from the sky. And it was all because of the man he was going to meet in a matter of minutes.

Hershel shook his head. He wasn't there to speak about the other's mistakes. He must have a clear mind to find anwsers to his question. Hoping Leon Bronev would provide them, of course.

The metal door opened behind him, creaking. A figure entered the room, and Hershel took a silent breath before turning towards it. He hasn't changed a bit, except from the tired expression Leon Bronev had, and his prison clothes.

“You have ten minutes, not more.” On that, the policeman closed the door.

There was an akward moment of silence, in which Bronev took place in front of the professor, letting himself fall onto the chair. Hershel noticed he was still handcuffed when he put them on the table in front of him. Joining them, he exhaled a loud breath.

“Of all people, I wasn't expecting you to visit me, Layton.” Bronev started. He leaned on his chair.

“I... must admit, I came here for a different reason.” He ajusted his hat. Another silence installed itself during seconds, while Layton was searching for the right words. “May I ask how you've been doing so far ?”

“I'm fine. What do you need ?” Bronev answered. Seeing the surprise in the professor's eyes, he continued, “I see in your eyes that you've come for a serious reason. We don't need such politeness, don't worry about that.”

“Hm... If you say so. Actually, I have some questions for you. It's about Emmy.”

Bronev's eyebrows rose. “Emmeline ? What's wrong ?”

The professor sighed. Was it really a good idea to tell him about the Vixen's case, and the police's suspicions about her ?

“She resigned some days ago. I do apologize, I don't know if she's planning on visiting you soon. I believe she left London for a while.”

Bronev's eyes lowered on the table between them. For a brief moment, Layton saw a hint of sadness in his eyes, but it soon vanished as he looked up at him. “That's alright. Is there anything else ? I don't believe you'd visit me just to tell me this.”

“Actually, there is.”

Hershel let his hands rest on the table. “Can I ask when you two have met ?”

“Why ?”

“... I want to find her.”

They looked at eaech other, Layton waiting for Bronev to respond, while the latter searched for his words.

“... We met at London, nearly ten years ago. She was still a young girl at the moment.”

“How, if I may ask ?” Hershel said. He was certain those two have known each other for a little longer than this...

“I haven't adopted her, if that's what you ask. Surely you know it already.”

“I do. How did you meet ?”

“I knew her father.”

Something clicked in Hershel's mind. Her father. Finally, a good lead to find her.

Seeing he wanted more, Bronev continued, “He just burst into one of Targent's digsites one day, when I was still a trainee. I thought that he was just a new recruit like me at the moment. We worked together for a couple of months.”

“So her father was part of Targent ? Is it how she joined ?”

“No. He suddenly disappeared one day, and I haven't seen him since.”

“And you don't remember any name ? A name code from Targent, maybe ?”

Bronev crossed his hands on his chin, thinking. “I believe... He introduced himself as 'Silver', once. When I met his friend.”

“Connor Cooper ?” Hershel said.

“Yes. I see you're well informed.”

“I thought I was. How have you met ?”

“It was during one of the few free days we had, back in time. Connor was never part of Targent. He was Silver's childhood friend. We haven't spent a lot of time together, because we recruits didn't have enough free time anymore, months after.”

Layton nodded. At least, he has a name : Silver.

“I still don't understand...”

“Why did she join ? I must confess, I don't know either.”

The professor lifted his head, surprised. “You don't ?”

“She asked to join one day, even if I warned her about the organization. She insisted, but she never told me why. I assume she wanted to find out about her father....” Bronev sighed. “Silver died when she was young. Connor must have told them about his affiliation with Targent, and she wanted to investigate his death.”

“I see...”

They stayed silent for a moment. The professor had quite a lot of new informations about Emmy now : her father, possibly named Silver Altava, joined Targent at a certain moment, and died when she was still young, which caused her to reach Targent as well. Yet, he still hadn't any news about her current position.

“Do you have any idea of where she could be now ?” Hershel asked.

“I'm sorry, Layton, I don't know. The last time I saw her was at Froenborg.” Bronev said, frowning. “But why are you asking all of this questions ? Is there something wrong with her ?”

“She is fine. I just... want to find her.”

Bronev nodded. “I see.” He let a soft silence set itselft between them, before speaking again. “I really don't know where she could be at the moment. I'm sorry, but I can't help you any further in your investigations.”

“It's alright. You already helped a lot-”

A loud noise cut the professor. A banging on the door. “Time's up, gentlemen.” The voice said behind it.

Hershel stood up, tiping his hat. “Thank you very much for your time, Bronev.” On this, he headed to the now opened door.

“My pleasure. But, please-” Bronev started, quickly following him and grabbing his arm with his handcuffed hands. Hershel looked at him with curious eyes.

“Yes ?”

“...Tell me if you find something.”

The professor studied him for a couple of seconds, before nodding. “I will.”

The drive back to London was a hard one for Layton. Not because of the night road, but because of his racing thoughts.

He had known Emmy for three whole years and he just realized how little he actually knew about her. She barely talked about her family or her friends for the whole time. It was actually understandable if she'd been working for Targent since her youth, but according to what he just learnt, Emmy had had a life before joining Targent. And for an unknown reason, he wanted to know more about it. Maybe it could help him clear her name to Scotland Yard....

He parked his car near his house. The lights of his livingroom were on, which meant Desmond was at home. The night air was quite chilly, so the professor hurried into his house.

“Ah, you're finally back.” his brother said when he closed the door. “Did you learn something interesting ?”

Hershel removed his jacket and put it on the rack, before moving into the livingroom. Desmond was on the couch, with his notebook in hand and a set of teacups on the table. “Indeed. What about you ?”

“Quite. Come closer.”

Intrigued, the professor sat near his brother. Eyeing his notes, he saw the two pages full of his awful handwritings. “What did you find ?”

“I stayed into the archives after you left, and I started doing some researches about your assistant. I have found something rather interesting : there is no information about her birth parents whatsoever. But I realized something...”

He shown a certain part of his notebook : the name “Altava” had been circled in red, with a question mark next to it. “This name isn't common in England. I checked the reports with Grosky's help, and it appears that she is the only one with this name around the country.”

“I think I remember her saying she was a foreigner. It doesn't sound surprising.” Layton commented.

“Maybe, but if we can find someone around the Earth that has its name too, it may lead us to her. I asked Grosky if he can help, and he'll try to find something for us.”

“Good.”

It was weird to talk about Emmy like this, but he really needed a lead to find her. “I have another information that could help us. Bronev knew her father.”

“Was he part of Targent ?” Desmond asked, the bitterness in his voice barely hidden.

“He guessed he was. According to him, his name was Silver. But he died when Emmy was young, and she joined Targent soon after.”

“To avenge him ? It wouldn't surprise me if Targent killed him.”

“Hm...”

“Is something wrong ?” Desmond asked. “Why do you want to know all about her anyway ? Do you really think we can find her ?”

Layton sighed. He took a cup of the tea his brother must have made earlier. The hot liquid was fuming, which was quite good in this fresh night.

“...She left because of Scotland Yard's suspicions about her being linked to Vixen. If I can clear her name, then maybe she will return.”

“Assuming she really is innocent.” The other professor added. He took a sip of his cup.

Hershel stayed silent. His brother was right, but every lead the police found let to a dead end... This means she was innocent, right ?

He needed to find a way to clean her name. If only he knew where she was... He felt a sudden guilt plaguing his heart. He should have stopped her when she left. The memory of his broken assitant running away from him came up in mind. He should have reassured her...

“A moment.”

Surprised by this sudden break of the silence that had settled between them, the professor turned his head to his brother. He was frowning over his teacup.

“I just remembered something about Vixen.” he said. 

“What is it ?”

“When we chased her around the city during the Yard's theft...”

He set his cup of the table, before looking at his brother. They had the same posture when they were thinking : hand under the chin, with the same frown and the same pout.

“I'm not completely sure, but I smelt something strange. Like a perfume.”

Santa Maria's clock stroke eleven loudly into Rome's empty streets. The Moon was high in the sky, just above the church.

And in the middle of the night, a thin shadow was waiting.

Vixen stood on the rooftop of the Conti's mansion, where the Cobra lived and worked. Squatted over the edge, she admired the awazing view of the calm city, before jumping. She grabbed the edge of the opened window right under her.

A swift shadow sneaked into the room. Conti's office. She chuckled. What kind of business director lets his office window opened at night ?

She took time to look around her. The room was quite large, according to the man's egocentric attitude. A huge painting of himself was on the wall just behind the heavy black wooden desk. It was the portrait of a rather small man, who stood as straight as possible, with his head high. His chubby face wore thin brown hair, which certainly started to fall, seeing the bald spot near his forehead. He also had quite small eyes, so small Vixen couldn't see their colour in this dark room.

She looked around the room a little more. Apart from the desk, there was two large bookcases on each side of the office, full of small figurines that looked expensive. She spotted the blade on the one in front of her. Good, she wouldn't have to search for it. She made a mental not to grab some of the figurines before leaving, and headed to the middle of the room, where a small table was circled by three large comfy red couches. She sat on one of them, crossed her legs, and waited. It felt so soft, she almost thought of offering one of them for a certain professor...

Vixen shook her head. Now wasn't the time to think about him. She stood still, and waited. The only noise around her was her calm breath, while she was waiting for Conti to arrive.

After a long moment that felt like hours for her, she heard the doorknob being grabbed, before it opened in a soft noise. She smiled under her scarf, waiting for the man to close the door and switch the lights.

“ _Benvenuto, Fabio_.” she said with the best italian accent she managed when light came on.

The man froze at the sight of her. “Who are you ?!” he yelled. “Security ! Come here at once !”

She giggled. “Why, aren't we well settled here ?” Vixen chanted, stretching her arm on the sofa's back.

Conti jumped on the door, but wasn't fast enough : Vixen leaped in front of him, preventing him from escaping. She clapped the door shut. “Is this how you welcome all of your guests ? Gosh, this is horrible.”

“You are not allowed anywhere around ! Get out at once !” The man replied with a strong italian accent.

She took a step towards him. He walked back, until he felt his office chair behind his knees. She kicked him so he sat on it.

“Oh, please, dear. Don't tell me you weren't expecting me.” She said, sighing happily. “I thought you'd enhance the security of your miserable mansion after the blade's robbery, but it was so easy to trick your security system and your so-called guards... It's almost an insult to my person, you know ?”

“You filthy little-!”

“Wash this dirty mouth of yours, won't you ? A gentleman doesn't swear in front of a lady.” She stretched her arm to him, poking his nose. “At least, not on _this_ kind of situation... ”

He slapped her hand with his arm. “What do you want, _Vixen_ ?” he spat the last name, full of hatred.

She took a step back. “I just wanna talk. Oh, and don't even think of running away. I haven't done the same mistake as my father. I'm not alone.” she said, her pride coating her words. She had the man trapped in his own office, scared and surrounded by his fortune and glory. She was going to at least enjoy this moment.

“You're here because of this brat, aren't you ?” Conti stuttered.

“What a smart man you are !” She cheered, clapping her hands.

“D-Don't even think of hurting me ! You'll regret it !”

“Vixen doesn't regret anything...”

She jumped on his desk, scattering everything on it on the floor in a messy sound. The man was trembling, and she hadn't done anything... Yet. She smiled.

“Vixen _makes_ people regret things.” She put a hand on the desk, leaping from it on the other side. Moving switfly towards the left bookcase, she grabbed the weapon, admiring the moonlight reflecting on the blade. “It's a beautiful object, isn't it ? Light, sharp, elegant but dangerous...” She slashed the air in front of her, turning back in front of Conti. Her hand on the pommel of the sword, he aimed his left cheek. He yelped at the icedd contact.

Seconds felt like hours for him, with the ice blade against his skin. Vixen stood still before him, looking at her prey behind her fox mask like a wild creature.

She was wondering if she should hurt him. To make him feel just the right amount of pain, before giving him to the police. To let him know what he did to her, even if it was just a little...

“You weren't the one holding the gun, did you ? A fragile, scared little mouse like you couldn't even lift it. You surely were the one guarding the house, while your friend did the dirty task.”

“Please-”

“Did you enjoy it, at least ? Taking the life of the world most famous thief ? It should have been a wonferful feeling...”

Conti let out a frightened cry when she drew the blade lower against his face, until it reached his neck.

“You could have done a perfect crime, fifteen years ago. People would have remembered it for a long, long time... But you know, you forgot one thing.”

Vixen tightened her grib around the pommel, forcing the blade into his neck just enough to cut him lightly. Fat tears ran on his face as a thin line of blood appeared on his neck, dirtying the collar of his shirt, already damp for sweat.

“... You forgot to kill one Fox.”

“F-Fox- Fox is not a murderer, you wouldn't dare-”

“I'm not my father, nor any of our ancestors, I can be whoever I like, and do whatever I want. You are not in the position to tell me what to do.” She shook her head. “But I won't kill you.”

She put her free hand on the edge of her scarf, lowering it so he could see her pink lips, curved into a large smile. “I will ruin you. I will burn your business to ashes, steal everything from you, and throw you on the dirtiest jail of this country. I'll make sure you'll spend the rest of your miserable life trapped between four walls, in a very dark place, so you could see all of your life being torn apart when I'll find and trap the rest of your scum friends.”

Suddenly, police sirens could be heard in the distance. Putting back her scarf, she removed the blade. Conti didn't move, trembling, his small eyes locked on the figure in front of him, tears wetting his cheeks.

“Be happy you're the first one I found. I won't be as soft with the others.” She eyed him from his feet to the tip of his head. “You seem way to weak to bear what I plan for them.”

She took a step behind, bending over him with the blade in hand. “I'm glad I've met you Cobra. May the odds be in your favor-” She quickly stood straight, her free hand on her cheek. “Oh, silly me. With everything about you I gave to the police, the odds wouldn't support you anymore.”

“What did you do-” Sirens clouded his words, as screams were heard in the mansion corridors.

“You'll learn it soon enough.” Vixen said, jumping on the edge of the window.

She heard a loud slur when she escaped the mansion, before the door broke open under the policemen's shouts.

Conti didn't even struggle when they arrested him, his eyes locked on the fast figure running away on Rome's rooftops.


	15. Chapter XV : Play Time

_Chapter XV : Play time_

  
  


The announcement of Fabio Conti's arrest was a world mediatic bomb.

Interpol had doubts about the man for a long time, but didn't have any clues or else to arrest him. The Vipers certainly knew how to hide their traffic easily... But one day, reports and documents appeared on the Italian police and Interpol's desks, with a strange fox symbol at the bottom. Documents,proofs of associations with wanted forgers, and mostly, photos and recordings of intimate discussions about lewd business. Everything was packed into a simple box, with only the Vixen's symbol on each document.

However, the police were seriously doubting the whereabouts of the thief. She was supposed to be the most famous robber in the entire world, and she helped to arrest a man she could have worked with. This was the strangest part of this whole affair, and thanks to this, Vixen earned a pretty good reputation in the common's minds.

“Cheers !”

Noise of glasses being crashed together echoed in the room, with joyful cries.

The Reunion Room in Caimeen hadn't been this lively in years. It was the middle of the night, the day after Conti's arrest. Numerous newspapers were spread on the tables, on which were written the same headlines : “World's known thief arrests Italian trafficker”.

The majority of the people inside, mostly Silver's former partners and current coworkers, were already drunk and singing about Emmy's glory. She hadn't had a better welcome then the one she got, the moment she laid a foot on Caimeen dormitories.

Crushed between a drunken Shawn's arms, she struggled to just breathe between her laughs. She slipped out of his embrace, grabbed her glass she had put on the table, and lifted it to join them in their euphoria. Edlijah was here as well, just right next to her, but still in a better shape than most of the ones around. He was gently playing with the wine in his glass Shawn gently bought for them, watching it swaying and siping from it sometimes. Feeling overwhelmed by the shouting voices of his companions and the strong smell of alcohol that emerged in the room, Elijah made his way out of the room, finding a balcony far enough for him to ease his mind. It's not that he disliked parties, but sometimes it could be too noisy for him.

Leaning over the railing, he looked at the night view of the forest surrounding him. It was calm, calmer than inside, where he could still hear his comrades singing and laughing in a faint noise. The sound of owls and wind between the leaves was better in his ears than anything else at the moment, so he just closed his eyes to enjoy this moment.

“Seeking peace as well ?”

Elijah turned around : Emmy was at the door, smiling, with a couple of glasses held in her fingers, and a bottle of champagne in the other hand. She lifted it while walking to him. “I may have found something interesting we both prefer for times like this.”

“Ah, that sure is highly appreciated. Thanks.” He said, taking a glass from her hand while she let the other on the edge of the railing. She opened the bottle and quickly poured the liquid. The sound of two glasses colliding gently was the only noise around them, before they sipped their drinks.

“This party is for you. Why did you leave ?” Elijah said after a moment.

Emmy finished her drink in a single trait. She could handle alcohol way better than him. “A party with big drunk guys can be quite difficult to handle. And I was wondering where you could be.”

“Well, I guess I wanted some time alone.” he put a finger on the side of his head, frowning. “They're going to break my mind if they keep on singing like this. There's one guy that'll fly from the window before the Sun rises.”

Emmy laughed. “Hey, don't kill anyone, please, it's a cheery night.”

“I know it is.”

A comfortable silence set itself between them, both enjoying each other's company. Caimeen's view on the forest was something Emmy had missed a lot : she remembered the late nights she spent with Elijah, enjoying the fresh air as they jumped and glided on the trees when they were young kids. Now that they were both grown-ups, this forest has begun to look like something more than just a playground. It was their childhood playground, and now it was their hideout away from civilization.

Emmy leaned over the balcony, her wild curls falling on her shoulders, swaying in the fresh breeze. Elijah noticed the reflection of the Moon in her dark eyes, making them shine. If only he had imagined they'd still be together after this long... For an unknown reason, he almost expected her to go away after a moment, forgetting them, and him, in the process.

Emmy noticed his stare on her. "What's wrong ? Do I have something in my hair ?" she said.

Elijah blinked. "Ah, sorry. I was lost in my thoughts."

"What were you thinking about ?"

He put his hand on the top of her head, shuffling her hair with a smile. "About how lucky I was to have you by my side."

"Hey, stop messing my hair ! " She whined, grabbing his hand with both her own. Yet, she returned her smile. "But I'm happy to have you too."

They were now facing each other, Elijah's hand in Emmy's. She played with his fingers for a moment before speaking.

"And actually, I wanted to thank you. For being with me and supporting me."

Elijah frowned. "Well, you don't need to. I'm here to help you after all, that's my job."

"No, you don't understand." Emmy looked at him in the eyes, locking hers with his. Brown and blue, dark and light. Quite the opposite, and yet so complementary. "I couldn't have got this far without you. If you hadn't been there when my father died, I didn't know what I would've done. And even now, if you weren't with me, I would never have been able to reach and catch Conti. So... Thank you."

Elijah smiled warmly at her. He put his other hand on her face, pulling away a strip of her hair behind her ear. "And I don't plan on leaving you. That'd be a shame, right ?" He laughed. "My job is to help you reach your goals. As long as you succeed, I don't care about fame or anything."

Emmy shook her head, his hand leaving her head. He frowned. "What ?"

"Don't talk as if you weren't important." She looked at him in the eyes again. This time, he could see determination.

She put a hand on her pockets, still under Elijah's curious eyes. She pulled out a small box. "Here, this is for you."

He grabbed the box she handed him while eyeing her. The soft blue ribbon that hugged the cyan box fell between his fingers as he opened the box. His eyes grew wide, surprise all over his features.

Inside the box was a mask, similar to Vixen's, but with blue colours. The same nose and forehead, dark blue, and black mouth and cheeks. The two holes for the eyes were in the same mischievous shape. Elijah carefully took it with a trembling hand.

"I asked Shawn if he could make one for you." Emmy said after a moment, smiling gently at him. He noticed she had her own in her hand. She lifted it so both their masks were next to each other. Seeing he wasn't going to say anything, she continued :

"You're more than a helper for me, Elijah. You're my brother, my best friend, my partner in crime..." she laughed. "I don't want you to feel like my shadow, as my ancestors did with their comrades."

"B-But... I can't accept that-"

"Why not ?"

"Because this mask belongs to your family !" He exclaimed.

Emmy clapped her tongue, shaking her head. "That was the ancient Foxes' traditions. I wanna create others."

She pointed to the forest and the Reunion room. "See those things ? They all belonged to my family, and my family alone, for ages. All of the people in there had worked for my father for so long, without asking anything in return, they just stood in his shadow. I don't like that."

She put her free hand on his chest. "As I said, I wouldn't have gone this far without you. I couldn't be Vixen without you. You're part of this character. My vision of Vixen is you and me."

"Emmy..."

She smiled. "Yeah, so... What I basically try to say is, well. Will you join the Vixen's group with me ? You can take another surname if you don't like this one of course, but I'd be really glad if you accepted it."

Elijah was at loss of words. The mask was so soft, and yet so soft between his trembling fingers. His heartbeat was resonating in his ears. Tears were threatening to fall from his eyes, but his pride prevented him from letting them fall.

He never thought about being Vixen's shadow at any time : he always was willing to help Emmy, and never planned to ask for something in return. He just wanted to see her happy.

His grip around the blue mask tightened as he lowered his head, biting his lower lip. He wasn't asking for recognition at all, so why did he feel so overjoyed ? Was it because she considers him as a partner, or because she called him 'brother' and gave him this mask ?

"Hey, are you alright ?" Emmy asked after a moment, putting a hand on his own.

Elijah took a deep breath, slowly looking back at her. She spotted a single tear running down his cheek. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you-"

"Thank you."

Emmy blinked a few times. He was facing her with a big bright smile, his ocean blue eyes shining under the Moonlight.

"For what ? The mask ?"

"For considering me as your brother."

Emmy smiled warmly at him. She put her hands on his shoulders. "Of course I do, silly."

Elijah pulled her into his embrace, hugging her close to him. The far sounds of the party inside the Reunion room were lost between the wind in the trees, swaying around them.

They pulled away far enough so they could look at each other. She beamed at him, and pulled her mask on her face. He laughed at her goofy smile and did the same with his own. It felt so weird for him to wear something like that, but seeing Emmy's smile widening when she looked at him, he knew he should have worn one sooner.

"So, Fox ?" She said.

"Wolf."

"Hu ?"

"Fox is your name. I'll borrow a cousin's name from now on."

Emmy's laugh sounded like music in his ears. "Hehe, I'm glad I've created a new family of thieves then. But hey, don't even think of stealing our pride ! Fox will still be the best."

He grabbed her cheeks with one hand, sticking his tongue out. She whined as he pinched her. "Pfah. We'll see that." Elijah said, kissing her forehead.

She smiled and giggled. She freed herself from his grip and removed the mask from her face. "Anyway, I must tell you something else. I'm gonna enjoy Caimeen for a little longer, and then I'll leave for a few days."

"Why ? When ?" Elijah said, pulling the mask away.

"I'd say, in two days. I have business to do."

  
  
  


A few days went by.

Inspector Grosky had been questioned about the whereabouts of Vixen by Interpol's forces after Conti's arrest. Alas, Scotland Yard couldn't help them in any way. What was bothering them both was more why she gave them the man than the trafficker himself.

The two professors were informed about Fabio Conti, a wealthy italian man that built his fortune on art traffic and possibly much more. And Hershel felt like this whole affair would be more complicated that he expected. Grosky asked for their help, and they both agreed.

"So, let me summarize it all. We know that Vixen is the heir of an ancient thief line that disappeared fifteen years ago and reappeared with her a few weeks ago, with the heist of Froenborg. She seemed to be interested in the Azran, but strangely, she focused on Fabio Conti, a shady art trafficker that she handed to the police." Desmond said mechanically, looking at his notes. He sighed. "We can't do much with these."

Grosky nodded. "Unfortunately that's all we have. But I must remind you we haven't found the stolen artifacts nor the Azran blade yet. She isn't the international hero newspapers talk about."

"Of course." Desmond said. Eyeing his brother, he noticed his brother seemed lost in thoughts. "Something wrong, Hershel ?"

Hershel blinked a few times, startled. "Ah. I apologize. What did you say ?"

"Is something the matter ? You look quite concerned."

"I was just thinking..." Hershel put his hand under his chin. "...About what you said a few days back."

"The perfume ?"

"Yes. Can you describe it again ?"

Desmond shrugged. "I don't see why not. It feels... oddly familiar. I may have encountered this in a shop. I don't think Vixen is stupid enough to wear perfume during her heists."

Grosky nodded. The professor Layton told him about this potential clue, but he still needed more details. "Is there something else you remember ?"

"It smelled like... vanilla." Desmond answered, frowning. "But much more like the smell of a body soap, combined with a milky scent."

"This can be any kind of soaps available out there." the inspector sighed. "I don't know if we can find something with it."

"Hm."

"Well, fellows." Grosky said after a short silence. He slapped the desk he was sitting in front of, making both the professors jump. "I think it's about time you return to the University, Layton." Hershel nodded, and stood up."And if I may ask, professor Sycamore, I'd gladly ask for your help to search into the Fox's archives."

"That would be a pleasure."

Hershel tipped his hat to the two men, before leaving.

Desmond spent the rest of the day at the police station. The inspector Grosky helped him as much as he could, but spending days dusting old books and studying ancient affairs was clearly not his cup of tea. When his boss called him, he took the opportunity to leave the archives to get some fresh air.

The professor Sycamore didn't mind working alone. He had done it multiple times before, and was used to it. Actually, it felt better to work like this for him. Alone with his thoughts and his investigations. But after a few minutes, Grosky came back from upstairs and asked him to join him in his office. Intrigued, Desmond followed. Not that he found anything interesting in these old books...

When he entered the inspector's office, he noticed another man was already there, with Chief Inspector Carmichael. He was quite tall and slim and was wearing a black tuxedo. He looked like those special agents in cheap movies.

When he turned around, he noticed he had sunglasses hanging from the collar of his white shirt. His short hair was perfectly combed, darker than his costume. His green eyes pierced Desmond's red ones.

"Ah, you must be the professor Sycamore, yes ?" The man said with a subtle Irish accent, offering his hand. "It's an absolute honour to meet you. My name is Finlay Payne, Inspector at Interpol."

Desmond shook his hand. "It's my pleasure. I assume you're here to discuss the Vixen's case, am I correct ?"

"You certainly are. Interpol sent me to help Scotland Yard's force, since Vixen appeared in London recently."

"Wasn't she in Italia a few days ago ?" Grosky said.

"She was. My colleagues were also sent there. Anyway, I'm looking forward to work with you, professor. I've heard so much about you."

Desmond smiled. "I'd be glad to."

"Now, let's get started, shall we ?" Payne said, smiling.

  
  
  
  


Night had settled in London's streets. The professor closed the door of his home, the keys clinking against the doorknob as he pulled it out. The house was dark and calm, so he assumed Desmond hadn't arrived yet from Scotland Yard. 

Putting his jacket away, he headed to his office. The clock indicated 8pm the last time he glanced at it at his office, so it must be around eight and a half now. Good time to prepare dinner, but he first needed to get his trunk into his home office.

Hershel climbed the stairs, turning on the lights. The floor of his home wasn't big. There were just three rooms : his bedroom, his office next door and another bedroom Desmond was currently using. All the doors were closed, without any light to be seen. The professor walked into his office, which was plunged into darkness, and carefully made his way to his desk, managing to not trip over a pile of documents or books. He put his trunk near his desk, opened the window to let fresh air in, and began to walk out out the room when-

"It's been a while, _professor Layton_."

Hershel froze. This voice-

He turned around to his window, just in front of his office. A thin shadow was there, hanging upside down, a long scarf swirling in the night wind. The shadow slowly got a hand on the window, gripping the edge, and in a swift move, she sat on it. She crossed her legs.

"Vixen…!" He gasped.

He couldn't see her face in the dark but he could swear she was smiling just by the way she giggled. "Are you surprised to see me ?" She chanted, always with this high pitched voice. 

"I- I wasn't expecting anyone tonight, especially you-"

"I sure hope you're delighted to see me, hu ?" 

She stretched her hand to the desk where a small lamp was, and lighted the room. The professor could finally look correctly at her : she was wearing the same outfit, an orange hoodie with fox's ears and black pants. Her mask and scarf covered her entire face as he expected, and he noticed something that looked like… a sheath on her back ?

"May I ask what you're doing here ?" He asked. He dared not to move, afraid it would make her run away. 

"To give you this."

Vixen grabbed the sword behind her, and pulled it out. 

"This blade-!"

"I don't need it anymore, so I return it to you." She said, inspecting the blade.

She spent hours cleaning it after her meeting with Conti. The blade was shining under the streetlights just like in Rome. She handed it to the professor. He frowned.

"Then why did you steal it in the first place ?"

She shrugged. "I needed it. Here, take it before I change my mind."

Hershel carefully approached her, as took the blade with precaution. It really was the Azra' blade stolen at Scotland Yard days ago.

"May I ask why you needed this blade ?" He said.

"Certainly, a smart guy like you likes to keep himself informed, don't you ?" Vixen giggled. "Conti's arrest was only possible thanks to this blade. And his arrest was everything I wanted, so I return it. Can you please hand it to the inspector for me ? I left a little gift for him too."

The professor lifted the blade on its sheath, and saw a little fox card attached on it. He eyed her suspiciously : she was still sitting on the edge of his window, right in front of his desk, her hands on her thighs. Her white scarf was gently moving behind her by the breeze. 

"Do you want anything else ?" Hershel asked, putting the blade away.

"Why, am I bothering you ?" She said, a smile in her voice.

"I'm indeed wondering why a wanted thief is waiting at my window."

"Well, I have nothing important to do right now. And…"

She leapt from the window, earning a yelp from the professor as she landed in front of his desk without any sound. She put her gloved hands behind her back.

"Don't act as if you wanna call the cops. You would've done it already." She took a step in his direction.

Hershel's mind was running. One of the most wanted thieves was currently in front of him, inside his house! He should call the police, and at least try to block any wait out so she couldn't escape, and yet- His body strangely refused to move, perhaps too amazed by the grace of the woman in front of him. She was casually standing in front of him, her hands now on his desk as she sat gently on it. It was a shame that he couldn't see anything under this scarf and mask.

Maybe it was the occasion to get information from her, especially about what happened in Rome. The professor tried his best to stand straight in front of her, gripping his hat with a serious face.

"I'd rather talk to you about what happened in Rome, if you don't mind-"

"Oh, news goes fast around there ! What did you learn ?" Vixen answered, amused.

There was something in her voice that sounded odd. Odd and familiar. 

"Well, a thief arresting a trafficker is certainly rather impressive. Would you mind telling me more ?" Hershel said. It might be a little too bold from him, but from what he saw, Vixen liked it this in the direct way.

The thief giggled as she took a step forward. He took a step back. " What a curious man you are… Don't you think it'd be funnier if you find it by yourself ?"

His grip on the blade tightened when she took another step. "Certainly-"

"Even if I won't make it easy, i'll be honoured if an esteemed professor like you tries to discover who I really am."

She was now standing right in front of him, leaving him no escape. His back was against the wall next to the door, the night breeze making the curtains on the opened window move gently. Even with the lights, he had trouble staying focused on anything but the woman before him. _What am I thinking ?_

"Aaah, professor. I gave you a splendid blade as a friendship gift, and you look like a lost baby deer in front of me. Could you at least relax ?" She purred under her scarf. She placed her hand on the tip of his hat. 

Hershel flinched at the contact. She had such small, slim hands. "Please, miss-"

"Oh, please. Call me Vix."

"...This is highly inappropriate-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Vixen's hand fell on his torso, pushing him against the wall, leaving a very flustered professor gasping for air. He could feel her warm hand against him as she leaned gently against him.

" _'Inappropriate'_ ? We're the only ones around, professor, ya know ? Nobody could see us, there's no need to worry about this. And…" her had moved upwards until the tip of her fingers brushed his chin. "... Can't a girl enjoy herself after all ?"

She was close, _too_ close. The professor thought about pushing her away, but it wouldn't be the best way to handle this situation. He was still a gentleman, even if the lady in front of him wasn't acting like one.

So, here they were, pushed against the other, Vixen tracing his face with her fingers while he stood there, not moving at all.

Vixen's finger ended on Hershel's lower lip. "I sure hope you're a better kisser than your brother." She breathed, her face close to his.

The professor found himself completely paralyzed. It was aq if his spirit had left his body, as if he could just watch what was happening without doing anything. Everything had happened too fast for him to react properly. Now he was just blocked against Vixen, her body crushed against his, her hand on his neck, her other lowering her scarf-

And then it hit him.

Her perfume. 

The smell Desmond had described : a faint touch of vanilla, probably Monoï, mixed with something as creamy as coconut milk. The smell was intoxicating. His body, which couldn't move seconds before, began to tremble. He knew this smell, but couldn't remember from where, or who. 

But he needed more.

His hand gripped her wrist. She took a sharp breath between her pink lips. His eyes were locked on her mask, probably where her eyes were. 

He needed more of this perfume. Gentleman rules could be damned if he couldn't smell it again.

Vixen lifted her hand a little more, a playful smile on her lips as she drew closed to him. His own were trembling. 

He was feeling her body against him. She was so small, so _attractive_.

Their lips were inches away. 

Hershel's heartbeats were resonating into his ears.

Her lips were grazing his. He closed his eyes.

  
  


And suddenly, the house door slammed shut and Desmond's voice echoed in the room. "Hershel, I'm home !"

The voice of his brother made his spirit come back into his body. Startled, he backed away from Vixen with a few steps on the side. She adjusted her scarf on her face, giggling.

"Looks like this ends our little meeting, professor."

"No, wait-!" Hershel exclaimed. He tried to reach her, but she leaped on the edge of the window. Squatted over it, she turned his head to him.

"Oh, don't worry. We'll meet again soon enough. Until then..."

She saluted him with two fingers on the side of her head, before jumping off. Desmond opened the office's door when her scarf followed her path.

He frowned, looking for his brother. He found him behind the opened door, flustered and out of breath.

"...Did I miss something ?"

Hershel slowly nodded.

The Azran blade was lying on the floor because of his encounter with Vixen, its sheath shining under the light. Desmond looked at it and lifted it with caution. A small note was on it.

_"Next stop : Romania, 3 days."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUEHUEHUEHUEHUEHUE


	16. Chapter XVI : Emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HEY I'M BACK !  
> First, HAPPY NEW YEAR ! It's been a while, right ? I'm sorry I haven't upload in so long. My school had made me quite busy for the past few weeks, and it'll still be hard for me to find time to write a lot. I'll try, though, because I love writing :)  
> Thank you for reading this story, and I really hope you'll enjoy that chapter !

_Chapter XVI : Emotions_

“Seriously, Emmy. Will you stop doing stupid things one day, or should I survey you every minute of every single day ?”

Emmy was sitting on the table of her apartment, a cup of tea between her hands, with Elijah leaning on the wall next to her. His arms were crossed on his chest, his eyes glaring at the girl. 

After her little encounter with the professor, last night, she went home just to see Elijah on her couch, waiting for her to return. He just knew something was up to her, and it wasn’t hard for him to know what she did minutes ago. 

"I haven't done anything this wrong, Eli-"

"Of course. Giving back the sword we struggled to steal for weeks is 'nothing wrong'." He answered, sighing. He grabbed the bottle of juice on the table, pouring some in a glass.

"It's not that simple." Emmy mumbled against her cup. "I told you I'm not going to be like the other Foxes, didn't I ? Well, that's the point."

Eli took a seat in front of the girl and put his now empty glass on the table. "Explain to me how you're going to be a thief without stealing anything ?"

Emmy stayed silent. Her eyes laid on the liquid inside her cup. This was exactly the question she was asking herself for quite some time now. Did she really want to be Fox, after all ?

"I… I don't know, actually." She said in a soft voice Elijah didn't quite hear.

"What do you mean ?"

The girl took a deep breath, her eyes avoiding his icy stare. She always had loved his blue eyes, but it sometimes scared her how the boy could look at people in such a static way.  
It was actually quite a difficult question for her to answer to. She’d always told herself she'd wear Fox’s costume after her days in Targent, so why did she doubt when she just started to use its name ? 

“It’s about him, right ?” Elijah said after a moment, putting his hand on Emmy’s. She jumped at the contact. The cold feeling on his bare hand on hers, warmed by her tea cup, was relaxing. 

“Who ?”

“The professor.”

“What are you-”

“You’ve been acting strange since you returned from Froenborg. And after what you did yesterday, I believe something's up with him, am I correct ?"

"What happened yesterday has nothing to do with him-"

"Ah, Vixen trapped him into his own office and nearly had her ways with him right on the floor but-"

"That's not what happened ! We just nearly-"

"Yeah well, it's the same, I'm right nonetheless."

Emmy's cheeks were burning. "Elijah, it's a little more complicated than you think." She said in a soft voice, looking away from him. The rest of her now mid-cold tea was swaying inside the cup. She put it away with the palm of her hand, holding her head in the other. "My head is an absolute mess right now." Emmy said after a moment.

"Wanna talk about that ?" Elijah replied. He removed his hand from her, crossing his arms on the table and waiting for her to speak again.

"... I'm lost, Eli. I don't know what to do anymore."

"With Vixen and all ?"

"Yeah. I- I know I want to go on with our plan and dismantle the Vipers, it has been my reason to live for fifteen years, but…" Emmy sighed. "There's something else now."

“Ok, let me guess.” Elijah said, leaning on his chair. The girl looked at him curiously. “You want to be Vixen, but you also want to be with your professor.”

“He’s not-”

“Shut it, I’m talking. So, you want two things that are actually the opposite of each other. On the one hand, being Vixen is being free, avenge your father, be worth your family name and all ; on the other hand, you love your life as an academic assistant, and you especially appreciate spending time with the professor Layton, whom, I believe, you fell in love with. Not sure if you realized it though. But, being with him means you can’t be Vixen, and being Vixen means you can’t be with him, in your mind, and that’s why you’re lost right now.” Elijah blew out a loud breath, laughing. “Wow, I spoke way too much. I need a drink.” 

He got up from his seat and headed to the fridge, leaving a speechless Emmy. Her mind was buzzing. “How did you-”

The boy took a bottle of fresh juice and came back to the table. “I’ve known you for fifteen years now, Em. I can read in you as in an opened book.”

Emmy struggled to register all Elijah’s speech, her mind still clouding her head. How did he find so much about herself, some things she didn’t even know ?  
She never thought she’d show any kind of feeling towards the professor, but now that Elijah pointed it out…

“I… Wow, sometimes you amaze me as much as you scare me, Elijah.”

“Yeah, I can do that sometimes. So, was I correct ?”

“...Maybe. I’m not even sure myself.” Emmy mumbled. She grabbed a biscuit from the plate on the table and started nibbling it, looking after through the window. The birds were singing as a few cars passed by the road. “But I guess… You might be right…”

“Ah, my dear little sister falling in love. This is something I wasn’t expecting to hear for a long time.”

“Elijah, please-”

“Yeah, whatever. And so, what ? What’s the problem ?”

Emmy sighed. There was no need to talk sense to him, especially when he knew he was right. 

“Isn’t it obvious ?” She pouted. Swallowing her biscuit, she took a sip of her tea. “How can I be with him- I’m not talking about a romantic relationship, just a professional one-, while being Vixen ? It just doesn’t make sense.”

Elijah looked at her, frowning. He bit his inner cheek, something she noticed from him when he was thinking.  
“Hm. I can’t see why not, actually.” He said after a moment.

“What ?”

He leaned on the table, pointing at her with his hand, holding his glass in the other. “You told me you wanted to be a brand-new Vixen, right ? Maybe it’s your cue. You’re not an evil thief- not that your family is evil pookie-, you just want justice.”

Emmy blinked.

“Does that mean your Vixen has to be against the law, and not on the other side ?”

* * *

The night had been especially agitated for the professor. The shadow of a special thief haunted his mind for most of his sleep, not to mention the long conversation he had with Desmond.  
After Vixen’s departure, Desmond immediately called the police. Inspector Grosky arrived a few minutes after to see a bewildered professor, still shocked from his meeting with the famous fox. Desmond gave the policeman the blade with the fox’s card on it, and Hershel explained how Vixen went in the house and gave him the stolen artifact without any proper explanations. Seeing the state of the professor, Grosky left after a moment, asking them to come to Scotland Yard in the morning, which they accepted.

The professor Sycamore stayed with his brother for most of the night. The latter told him what happened in detail, including Vixen’s… odd actions, around a cup of tea.

“She tried to seduce you in your office ?” Desmond repeated, surprise filling his eyes.

“She… tried something I didn’t understand. It was as if I was frozen in place.”

“Hm.”

“However,…”

Desmond looked at his brother. He had his eyes on his cup ; his hat was still in his office. He forgot to grab it when the inspector arrived.

“I smelt the perfume you described.” Layton said after a moment.

“Oh, I see.”

“It was indeed quite particular. It feels like I know it, as much as you do. But I can remember where…”

“Coconut milk and vanilla is a pretty common perfume, Hershel.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s… Stronger than a mere smell I smelt before in a shop. It’s-“

The flashback of his meeting with the thief came back in mind. Her gloved hand on his torso, her small body against it, that felt so fragile and yet so strong, and her lips that nearly crushed against his… He wondered how it’d have ended if his brother hadn’t interrupted them.

He felt quite ashamed to have ended in this state with a woman he was investigating about. Not to mention he didn’t know her at all… Or did he ? This perfume, it felt way too familiar for him  
“…It’s attracting.”

“Attracting ? What do you mean ?” Desmond said, surprised. He put his cup of the table in front of him, crossing his legs.

His brother began toying with his spoon inside his cup. The hot liquid wasn’t even soothing his mind. The images of that devilish fox haunted- _plagued_ his mind.

Seeing he wasn’t going to answer, Desmond smirked. “Looks like someone is having fun.”

“Please, Desmond-“

“Oh, I’m not scolding you. Who would I be if I do ? You literally let me live in this house after all.”

“It’s not the same-“

“Of course not. Anyway, you two should’ve been more careful, though, I didn’t plan on surprising you doing this-“

“Desmond !” Layton exclaimed, his cheeks bright red.

The professor Sycamore started laughing behind his almost empty cup. His brother was so easy to upset. He put it back on the table, crossing his arms.

“I understood, brother, no more teasing. But I must admit her behavior had been quite strange. Why would she give the sword back, and did she give us the place of her next heist ? It doesn’t make sense.”

“It does if she wants us to follow her.” Hershel said after a moment. He stood up, grabbing his vest. “Maybe we should go to Scotland Yard right away.”

Desmond nodded.

* * *

_Two days later…_

“…Looks like I’m the next one, aren’t I ?”

“You are.”

“Hu ? It’s all you have to say ? Weren’t you supposed to protect us ?”

“This is what I’m doing. I’m searching for this damn vixen. Maybe if you stopped whining, you could catch her too.”

“And how ?”

“I’ll give you enough men to protect your travel to Russia. We know she’ll still come even if hundreds of guards will be there, being as stupid as her father, so the only thing you’ll have to do is waiting for her and kill her. If my men don’t do it before you.”

“… I’m not a murderer.”

“Because you think you have a choice? Poor girl. Your father forgot to teach you what could happen if you disobey to my orders, didn’t he ?”

“N-No, you… You misunderstood. I’ll do it.”

“Good.”

* * *

"Svetlana Tarvel, thirty-two, is our next target. Her fake name is 'Boa'. She's a wealthy Romanian woman, whose father died three years ago from old age. Since then, she's ruling his business."

"Nothing illegal, right? I've heard of the Tarlev name before, it was just a transport business, if I remember correctly."

"Yup. But according to Conti's files in his office, that Tarvel family has been working for the Vipers for a long time. It's highly possible that Svetlana's father helped to kill your father back then."

"Hm. But she has nothing to do with this, though."

"She doesn't, but she's still working for them. From what I've heard, they use her complex train and car system to send their stolen stuff all around Europe and Asia."

“Which means we can stop all their stuff if we arrest this girl, right ? Sounds good for me. When will we start ?”

“My little birds told me a huge package is supposed to be send away tomorrow.”

“Hehe, let’s strike then !”

Emmy let out a breath as she remembered this conversation, a small cloud escaping her lips as she did. Romanian weather has been quite chilly these days. Moreover, being sat on the top of a high building did not help with the cold. Her orange sweatshirt was not really helping either. She crossed her legs, letting them hang to the air as she took another sip of her nearly empty can.  
The view from her spot was amazing. The clock recently struck two in the afternoon, and the city was buzzing with cars and people all around. And here she was, alone in the sky, looking at them from above.

Emmy finished her can, eyeing her surroundings. She spotted a bin at the floor under the rooftop, so she stretched her arm and let the empty can fall. The wind made it swirl just enough so it could fall into it. She ticked her tongue and smiled.

“Nice shot, bud.” She got up and stretched.

Spending the day in town helped her much more than she imagined: jumping from a building to another, enjoying the fresh air and the rush of adrenaline she missed. It always helped her to rest her mind after stressful days. Her days as the professor’s assistant couldn’t allow her to do it, so she truly enjoyed being as free as a bird for the time being.

Her heart stopped at the thought of him. Professor Layton…

Of course, she remembered her last encounter with him as Vixen, and this moment still haunted her thoughts since then. She wondered what could’ve happened if Desmond hadn’t come home at the same moment. Better not to think about that, though.  
She stood up and stretched. A quick look around her helped her to spot another building she could go on, by a set of pipes and wires that linked it to the one she was. A little bit of parkour would be good for her mind, she thought, so Emmy adjusted her black pants and tightened her laces on her shoes, before she grabbed the pipe and let herself hang on it. After some quick moves and a little bit of gliding over wires, she finally arrived at the building. From there, she could walk around most of her surroundings: Emmy put her hands in her sweatshirt and started wandering around.

As much as she disliked it, her thoughts always were with the professor. She hoped her mission here would help her forget him, but it was useless. She sighed, leaping on a lower roof.  
There was another thing in her mind, though.

“‘Does that mean your Vixen has to be against the law’…” She whispered softly. Her words flew away in the wind.  
Emmy was not sure what to think about that. Every time she thought of it, her mind went blank, as if something in it blocked her to fully understand it. “What does that even mean…”

Her steps guided her to a park nearby. Lowering her head, she spotted kids playing in the playground. They were screaming and laughing all around. Assuming they’d distract her for a moment, the girl just sat on the edge of the rooftop, hugging her legs against her chest and her head resting on her knees. The windy air of Romania was definitely not doing good with her.

The kids looked happy. Some were playing hopscotch, sometimes falling ; others were chasing one another in a playground full of ropes and slides and suspended wood bridges.  
Then, she spotted a young girl in front of the bridge. Others were running around and screaming, but this one just looked at it without moving.

“Is she scared?” Emmy said, mostly for herself.

A boy urged the girl to step on the bridge by clapping her back, but she didn’t move. The boy then left, and returned seconds later, accompanied with an older man. Probably the girl’s father. Emmy frowned.  
The man took the girl’s hand and urged her to continue on the bridge. First, the girl wasn’t moving at all, but after a few tries, she carefully put a foot on the first plank, and then the second, and the third. The man never released the girl’s hand. Step after step, he continued cheering her until she crossed the entire bridge. Emmy couldn’t see it, but the girl was smiling brightly as her hugged the man.

Emmy remembered how happy she was when she played the same games back in Denmark. She would rush to the bridge, making it tremble so much it was impossible to step on, and then she would try anyway, only to fall between the steps. Her father would be right under, catching her before she hit the ground, and scolding her for being ruthless before showing her how to not fall again, ‘like a true Fox’.

A single tear ran on her cheek as the girl jumped on the ground, rushing to another longer bridge. Emmy just hoped the man would not let her fall from it.

She decided she had enough of this, and so she jumped on her feet and went away. Her crew had a heist to prepare, after all.

She dried her cheeks with her glove: a tiny water spot ended on Vixen’s symbol on the back of it.

“Time to strike.”


End file.
